Darkness
by Jazz7
Summary: Ten murders, all committed by a sadistic individual that has yet to be caught. Among the dead is Saitou's wife, among the living is the person that the murderer has been looking for all along. Can the two work together? An Inuyasha/RK crossover.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Well in case anyone is reading this first chapter I have something to tell you guys...I'm redoing chapters 1-3 so that it will actually be a good story. Well with three reviews, and a changed writing style, I think I should start this story all over again.

Be warned though, I haven't written anything R yet incept for "Kingdom Hearts: Soul Taker" and that has more violence than nudity and language and other stuff like that. Well so far it does anyway...

So bare with me and please read and review. Even though this is still going to be a short story, also when I finish it and if you like it, review if you want a sequel. ;)

Also, some things, Tokio, maybe not be accurate. I've only watched the anime, a little bit of the manga (the first volume) so don't expect me to get her character perfect.

Warning: Not all thoughts will be surrounded in 'these'

Disclaimer: I don't own.

* * *

Darkness  
Part one: Victim

_Within us all lies a darkness__  
_  
_bubble,bubble, hisssss_

The moon illuminated a small house, ancient yet filled with light. The darkness covered all that walked within it, yet inside was warmth and happiness which the dark envied.

"Not again! This is the sixteenth time!"exclaimed Tokio. "That's another good reason for not trying new recipes! Maybe I should just stick to what I know, I'm not a master cook...yet."

The woman and man who made this place their home had no idea of such things as the thoughts of those that dwell past the light. Though the man was a warrior, and the woman was the wife of a strong man, neither truly knew anything about the darkness.

Tokio, after getting rid of the ruined food in the pot, turned to walk down the hallway in her and her husband's home. Finding a hair out of place, Tokio stopped to look in the oval iron mirror in the middle of the hallway.

In the mirrors surface one can clearly see her dark brown eyes and moon like white skin, which is in sharp contrast to her long dark hair. Hair and skin which reminded the dweller of the night of another woman who had yet to taste his wrath.

Neither truly knew about true darkness. Or pain.  
Noticing a object on the floor, Tokio bent to retrieve it.

It was a letter from her husband that she had dropped. Standing back in front of the mirror once more, she slowly read it to herself. When she was finished she looked back at the mirror to see something wrong:

Someone was standing a few inches behind her.

Not having enough time to react, the person reflected in the mirror easily grabbed her across her shoulders, keeping one arm across her neck so that she couldn't move her head.

Her mind, like that of her husband''s, quickly thought of a way out of the situation. Stabbing him in the arm. After twisting the knife in for good measure, she took off running, only tripping once.

"Aggh, you little bitch! Just hold still and I promise not to make it hurt too much!" Tokio could clearly hear her attacker scream. Who ever he was he had considerable skills to sneak up on her.

'Which room, which room, which room is it!?' she thought to herself by momentarily forgetting which room her husband kept his extra sword. He was after all a wanted man, as much as a man of the law. There we lots of people that would want him dead or want to make him suffer though his family. And so far his family was her. She had trained for a emergency like this, but it had never come, so after awhile she didn't take too many drills or worry about it. It was always in the back of her mind, like someone who knows but doesn't worry about house fires.

But when one actually happens, when your life is on the line, you forget everything you learn and leave it up to pure panic. And as it eats away at you, your hourglass is running on empty.

Tokio keep on running and peaking into unopened and open doors, all the while trying to put as much distance as she could between her attacker. A sharp blade came out of nowhere and stabbed her in the leg, causing her to trip and fall.

"I got to keep moving even if it hurts, I'm not the only one at risk here!"she screamed out loud while she pushed herself up from the ground. While limping away, a glint of metal caught her eye.

'This is it. This is the room I've been looking for!'

Tokio quickly closed and locked the door. Then moved across the room to her mini family shrine.

"Ancestors forgive me but I have no choice!"after saying that, she flung all the items and the whole shrine to the floor. She looked in the hidden chest that the shrine was on and stuck in a arm. When her arm slid out of the chest it was now holding a sword. She took it out of the sheath, silver blade gleaming by the light of the moon, and watched it in the darkness of the room.

_thump_

thump

thump  
  
Footsteps sounded in the hall behind her so she grabbed the sword and hid in a cabinet near by the once family shrine. In one hand Tokio griped the sword, in the other she used it to put a hand over her mouth to keep silent.

_rippp,slam_

thump

thump

thump

Her attacker stops walking and stands in front of the cabinet. Tokio stops breathing and waits for him to move on.

'Come on, come on, you sick bastard, notice I'm not here!!'

A blade comes through the wood, nearly hitting her in the arm and leaving splinters. Another one pops out on the side of her other arm making her scream from surprise. The cabinet doors are ripped open and she doesn't wait to know who her attacker is as she plunges the blade that she's holding through his stomach.

After dodging him making a desperate grab for her she runs out in the hallway. A open doorway reveals the moonlight of outside.

'Outside! If I make it that far, I can get help!' Her frantic thoughts are heartbreaking in their desperation. These are the last thoughts she'll make in this life time, and while the knowledge is madding in its sorrow, they're lovely in their naive sentiment. After thinking that to herself she runs out into the empty backyard of the home, and smiles as she sees the open gate.

But Tokio doesn't even make it to the handle of the gate.

A sword comes out of nowhere and pierces her in the upper chest. Just missing her stomach and almost hitting her breast. She limply falls to the ground and rolls over to her back as she looks up at the moon and the night sky, with a sickle moon like the blade of death himself grinning down at her.

Her attacker smiles, mimicking the moon, as he leans down and holds the knife she stabbed him with. Her other sword, her husband's sword, is embedded in her chest. A thick pole of blood forms around them as Tokio coughs up more

"P...p...please my...my...baby. Please don't kill us...I haven't told him yet...please..." Tokio expects mercy, what she gets instead is a cunning, cold, triumphant, smile.

"Victim number 10." are the last words she hears as she started to scream.

But long before she stops screaming a whisper slips past her murderers lips, a mingled sound of desire and hate:

"Kikyou."

* * *

Part Two: Promise

Its amazing how your neighbors don't even come over for pie, till something terrible happens. Then it's like a big festival. Complete with crowds of people, lights, and of course the main attraction:

The body.

Its the main reason why all of them are there, second to curiosity. They all want to see the body of someone they barely knew or cared about.

"What do you think is the time of death?"

"I didn't hear anything last night, I was out in another town and didn't get back until very late."

"I thought I heard screaming! It seemed to go on forever! But then I thought I was dreaming and closed the window, and forgot about it...but now..."

All of them said the same thing, none of them wanted to take the blame for not noticing. But they all wanted to know when she died, who killed her, and, how die she die? The bloody details were driving them mad with the same fervor that was felt at public executions in Europe. But who could really tell what was going on with the police were keeping everyone at a distance.

One of them pushed through the crowd, and from a overhead view you could see people pushing themselves away from him, like he was a wolf. They were half right.

More whispers could be heard among the crowd about who the person was.

"Its him. Her husband. How do you think he'll take this?"asked a man to his wife.

"Who dear, I can't see a thing without my glasses?"

"Its him, the one in the navy police uniform, smoking a cigarette. You were there for the wedding remember?"

The old woman frowned at her equally old husband. She knew who had gotten killed, for she knew everything that happened and didn't happen. And the murder victim had been the one that she always gave sweets to for the holidays. The victim had also always looked after her grandchildren. After racking her brain for an answer she looked up at her husband and said:

"I remember. They were like fire and ice, really. One could really see it at the wedding, but they got along so well...its really a shame, it breaks my heart."

As if sensing that they were talking about him, he turned his head in their direction. The old couple shivered as they saw the flash of golden eyes in the dark. With a turn of his head he was gone in a instant. The only thing showing that he had been there was a lone cigarette bud.

"Saitou, what are you doing here? Are...you...sure you want to see this?" asked one of the police officers keeping the crowd back.

The man called Saitou didn't reply, he lit another cigarette then walked past him.

The only lighting in the now destroyed home was the moon and a few small candles. Stepping in through the front door nothing looked damaged or wrong until you walked father down the hallway.

A broken mirror and blood was the first sign of trouble, then a trail of blood leading up to a small room. After looking into the ruined room Saitou frowned and stood in front of the broken pieces of what once was a cabinet. Sighing he turned around and walked toward where the back door was. A short police officer was standing there, looking nervously around. It was his first day on the job. Seeing Saitou he quickly stepped aside, then ran down the hallway for a bathroom. He had just seen the body, and even standing in back of it couldn't get you away from the smell.

_'Are you sure you want to be here?'_ was the small constant voice in the back of his head, he responded with a comment of his own then moved on. "She's my wife."

Walking past the others working on the scene of the crime he stood by his wife's body.

Dead, once vibrant, dark earth colored eyes stared back into his own with a horror and terror that speaks for itself. The only other emotion in her dead eyes were anger, and one couldn't tell if it was directed toward, himself, herself, or the sick fucking bastard that actually committed the crime.

It could go all three ways if you looked at it through three different views.

The person that did it, he was the one that killed his wife using his own sword. He mutilated her body till the only thing recognizable was her dark hair. Hair that he could still remember touching before he left. Hair that he always twined around his fingers when embracing her.

She could have blamed herself in the end for not being strong enough, or for not being more well prepared. But wasn't it him that said that the man's roll, the husband's roll, was to protect his woman?

And Saitou himself had written and gave her his word that he would be there. If he had decided to actually keep his promise he would have been there. He should have kept his word for once. Then maybe...maybe...

There not just one person responsible in a crime, as they say, it takes three.

Looking back down at the body no one could blame the police officer from before for leaving his post.

Blood. It was everywhere clinging to her nude body like a second skin, or translucent clothing. And entrails were the belt or the sash, as if it wasn't enough to rape her body he had to cut open her stomach. Laying in the middle of the mess that was once her body was a decapitated fetus.

"She was pregnant..."Saitou asked, more to himself then those around him. One person that actually heard him went and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, she was at the time. 6 months to be exact. A old woman outside just told us that she had told her a couple of days ago...I know this won't ease your pain, but I'm sorry..."he said then walked away to give him some space.

Saitou didn't say anything but just looked down at what was once his wife. Now all that was left was a torn and bloody shell.  
He hadn't known. She hadn't told him. He had been away for months and hadn't guessed at thing.

She had been pregnant. The sobering news brought a fury to him that could rival hell.

'If I have to sell my soul to the devil, I swear I'll kill him. I'll hang his head on a pole. I make him suffer ever humiliation and pain she did. Even if it destroys me.' Saitou thought to himself. He balled his hand into a fist until patches of blood appeared of his white gloves from where his nails dug into his skin.

* * *

_chirp_

chirp, chirp, chirp

chirp, flutter

A pale white hand reached out to the small brown bird chirping and flapping its wings on the ground. After cupping her hands around the bird, she raised her hands up high and let it go. Watching as it flew off into the early midmorning sun. A sudden gust of wind sent,the womans dark, midnight black, hair fluttering through the wind, the only thing holding it back from arranging itself in a mess was a single bone white ribbon.

With one hand in the lap of her red hakama, she reaches up with the other for a blue bird which flies to and stays on the tip of her index finger. The white sleeve of her hakui slipped down and reveled the rest of her pale white arm until she pulled it back up.

A red robin landed in her lad and dropped a Kikyou flower, and she gently smiled at the bird that had brought her her namesake.

The birds flew away and Kikyou's eyes widened as she sensed a familiar fragment of power.

"Another life has been claimed. When will this madness end? This time it happened so far away, but the next time? He has to know where I am, he's just toying with his victims and me, along with my time and patience. This makes the 10th victim..."she said to herself. Kikyou hoped off the rock that she had been sitting on and started to walk away, until a familiar pain started to spread across her back, and her hakui filled with small patches of blood in the back.

'Damn, I wish I could forget.'Kikyou thought to herself by picking up her bow and arrows and walking away. She hadn't gotten far when she came upon a dead body hanging from a tree.

Upon inspecting it she could make out that it was a police officer. He had been cut up into several bleeding pieces and was hanging from the branches. She turned around as she spotted from the corner of her eyes two pairs of red eyes.

'A demon here? Why didn't I sense it?'

When the eyes had disappeared, Kikyou chose to leave the body for now and follow the demon. After finding herself in a dark clearing, she looked around. Her eyes widened in surprise, horror, and disgust, as she sees the half eaten bodies of the birds that she had been playing with and another police officer. His picked clean skull smiles at her as she hears footsteps behind her.

She dodges a attack and takes out a arrow to kill the possessed body of a human, possessed by a rat demon.

"Ah, another lovely human for a midmorning snack. I was getting quite tired of birds!" the demon says then laughs, as Kikyou narrows her eyes.

"Look a little closer."

The demon squints as he looks at her closer. Then, with fear and surprise, he stammers out: "Why your not a human, your a-"

He doesn't even get that far, as a glowing arrow pierces his neck.

"I'm a what, dead, a soul eater, or maybe that I'm a higher rank then one of you, low class scum." Kikyou smiles and sets about burying and praying for the souls of her winged companions.

When she finishes she expects to turn around and leave when a gun comes out of nowhere and presses into the back of her head.

"Don't move...or...I'll shoot! Oh, my god, what did you do to him!"says the third police officer that she had seen today.

Kikyou silently laughed to herself, which she could tell unnerved the man as she thought: "Why didn't I sense him too? My senses must be taking a vacation today.'

"Stop laughing!!"he harshly yells out as Kikyou stops. She gives him a cold smile and puts her hands up over her head.

"Okay, officer, but before you take me away and put me behind bars for being a bad girl, look a little closer."

The officer, looks over at the body of the demon that she just killed, his eyes widen slightly as a mist form of a large rat with glowing red eyes flies out and into the sky, as the body disintegrates.

The clearing fills with police officers as Kikyou takes her hands down from over her head, and picks up her bow and arrows. The other officers raise their guns and other weapons up at her head, as the one that first put a hand to her head starts yelling.

"W...w...what the hell is she!? She's a witch, that man--that man look at him!!"

Everyone except Kikyou looks at the fallen body of the demon then back at her. But before they can even say anything a deep voice comes out of the surrounding trees.

"She's a priestess thats what she is. Pick that babbling buffoon up, and put your weapons down. That's not how you treat a holy woman."Kikyou narrows her eyes as a man in steps out from the trees. The rest of the small group salutes him and does as he says, then runs over to take the man that had called her a "witch" away.

"Thank you, but I was a priestess. I'm far from holy. I will give a prayer for the dead then continue," Kikyou looks down at his badge then back at him."...Commissioner."

The chief of police frowns then looks at Kikyou as he says: "I'm sorry miss, I didn't get your name."

"It's Kikyou."

"Did you get rid of these," He waves his hand over the demon, then locks eyes back on her again."pest by yourself."

"Yes, and how did you know there was more then one?"

"Because when I was very little my grandmother was into believing in sprints and demons, and she told me all the signs to look for one or a demons body. If you weren't a priestess you would be quite useful to us. That is, if you were a man."Kikyou narrows her eyes at him then replies.

"I'm not a priestess, and if your asking me to join the police force, then I would have to say yes, yes I will."

"I am, I think despite your gender, I think you could be quite useful. I'm not saying I believe in demons and all that, I'm just saying that your services could be put to good use. And if you will come with me Ms. Kikyou...do you have a last name."

Kikyou thinks for a minute then replies. "It's Tama, Kikyou Tama."

He nods his head and walks away as Kikyou turns to praying for the dead. 'Maybe this way I'llfind him faster.' thinks Kikyou to herself by praying. It is a prayer that will soon be answered.

'I hope I did the right thing, it won't be easy on her because shes a woman, but what choice do I have? If that thing is a demon, were going to need all the help we can get. I won't question my beliefs now, but I promised my wife that she would feel safe again, even if shes not what this monster is looking for. I can't make that into a wish that can't be granted. 'he thinks to himself by walking away.

The commissioner looks over his shoulder then thinks to himself: 'Plus she has the same eyes of him, even if their not gold. I can see the same coldness and power in her as in him. Maybe they can both stop him, because I doubt we'll be able to take this monster dead or alive...'

End of Chapter One

* * *

  
**Author's Notes**: Okay thats chapter one! I hope you guys liked the new chapter one! Next on the new chapter two (when I write it, your stuck with the old one for now.) we see Kikyou's training to be a police officer and when her and Saitou first meet. Be warned through, I don't know much about police training, so don't blame me if somethings are wrong.

Also thank you Shrine for giving me that info on Kikyou's clothes, otherwise I wouldn't know what the hell she wears.  
I wish I could rewrite this entirely, I would have Kikyou join the force under a man's disguise. I think she would look good with short hair. But I can't, I have too much to do.

Well stay tune for chapter two and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Well well, no reviews huh? Well thats alright, as long as people are reading I guess... Well I hope your enjoying the story so far, it might be longer then I thought. And its starting to turn toward another fic of mine with stuff I didn't plan out in it. That could be a good or bad thing...  
  
'thoughts'  
  
"words"  
  
_voices in head.   
_  
words you should pay attention to.  
  
And not every thoughts going to be surrounded by 'these'.  
  
Oh and sorry people on mediaminer.org. Italics and Underlines don't show up on there. So you might want to read this then read it on Fanfiction.net, my penname is Jazz7.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But I would like a Kikyou tee shirt, please. Hey I said please! Some people now days have no manners...  
  
Darkness  
  
Part 4: Someplace where I belong.  
  
"Stop playing around you witch!"  
  
Kikyou just smiled. She didn't really need to as he called it "play around" with him. But it was just twice the fun. Stoping on the ground finally ,from jumping around and scratching him up a bit, she notched a arrow in her bow and waited. It was kind of like of like how a cat plays with a mouse, incept this time she was the cat instead of the other way around. Last time she had underestimated the last human she had fault, and the scars were still there... Shakeing the thoughts out of her head she focused back on what she was doinging. He was comeing closer and her old expriestess self told her mind to just shoot him already, not careing if he would die or not.  
  
She obeyed. But she held back at the last moment, so the arrow just pierced his left shoulder. Just missing his heart, and not premently damageing his left lung. The arrow neatly pinned him to a tree behind him and Kikyou was glad to she had finally took that over comfident smile off his face. She had never liked him, and it wasn't just that he put a gun to her head either.  
  
"Thats enough Kikyou!" Kikyou half turned around at the voice of her boss. The commissioner didn't look to pleased noticeing the damage that she did again to her trainer.  
  
"Kikyou haven't I-" he started, but she cut him off with a charming smile.  
  
"Yeah but its not like he's dead, he'll live...unfortantly for him."she said. Turning around to look at the man that was currently staining the tree with his blood, she smiled a cat like smile.   
  
"Kikyou, you know the rules..."  
  
"Yeah I know." she said by streatching. Then winking at him she said. "What are you gonna arrest me and put me in handcuffs for being a bad girl, officer?"   
  
The commissioner didn't say anything. He was happyly married and Kikyou was just playing around again. It was just a front to show the others she had some emotion. Other wise people would think she really was a witch with her cold emotionless ways. Behind that curvey female body and beautiful looks that could make any man easily give up his heart to her, was a soul of a killer.  
  
Fight fire with fire. To catch a killer us a killer.  
  
"Lets talk somewhere alittle more priveite."he said by turning around and letting her follow him into the darkness of inside the building. Kikyou turned around once to look at her former opponite and then turned around and walked inside.   
  
It wasn't as dark as she liked inside, but for now it would have to do. The darkness around her curled and gathered at her feet, automaticly senseing what others could not. That she was closer to it then most knew. Leaning agianst a wall in the darkest corner she looked up at the man in front of her.  
  
He sighed then said. "You know, you could act like someone else. I don't need the rumors."  
  
Kikyou's eyes flashed with annoyince. And the commissioner turned away from her for a second then composed himself and got to the point.  
  
"Kikyou you almost kill anyone you work with, and your skills as a police officer is excilent. But do you have to be...so ruff..."  
  
Kikyou stared then started to laugh, and the darkness laughed with her. She turned her back on him and started walking to her small room that they had provided her. Turning once to look over her shoulder she said to the man in back of her.  
  
"I get the job done, thats all the matters. And if you can't get to the reason why you need my services then I'll be more...gentle." with that she dissapeared into her world of darkness.  
  
Finally she stopped and stood in front of a door in front of her. Feeling around on it, since it was to dark to see, she let her finger tips glide over the words "witch" that were ruffly carved into the door. Sighing she found the door knob and entered her dark room.  
  
A cold wind blew across her room for a open window. Moon light fluttered in from a full moon giveing it more shadows then light. Sighing again Kikyou closed the door behind her and locked it then leaned against it untill she slowly slid into a setting postion against the hard wood. Looking across from her she could see her bed, a neat light brown folder lay on it with the contintes of the "demon murders". It was named so because of the horrible deaths that had befallen all of the victims. No one human could have possiblebly commited it.  
  
Victim number 1 was a small town mom that always had a smile on her face. Untill her face was ripped off giveing her a eternal smile. She was also decapitated and her body had been pulled into two pieces. Her three children were the ones to find her body. They haven't talked since, and they are now ammited into a aslyme. It was said that they won't stop saying one word, "bell". The word was scratched all across her naked body and the people in the lab said that she had been still alive when her face was ripped off and she had been pulled apart. And that she had scratched the word all across her body as she was dieing to ease the pain...and because of reasons unknown.  
  
Victim number 2 was a happy school girl with dreams of makeing it big in writeing poems. She was always seen with a black pin that her grandmother gave her before she died, that and a writeing notebook. She was also raped like the first victim and the ones to come after her, her throat had been slashed with her own pen and the pen had been embeded into her throat also. On a page of her open notebook was the words written in blood, "flower".  
  
Victim number 3 had been a school teacher at a school for the blind. She was found dead in her school house. Her body had been broken, almost every single bone in her body had been broken like a childs toy, she had slowly died from blood loss. Her students had found her and after sliding across the floors wet with her blood, they came up and touched her body...  
  
Victim number 4 had been a woman stricken with a illness. She died of fright and her sick condition. Her eyes reflected her pure terror even after they were closed it still left a picture in your mind.  
  
Victim number 5 had been a normal woman with special intrests at all, incept for walking by a river every evening. She had been raped then drowned.  
  
Victim number 6 had been victim number 5's daughter. She had come to tell her mother of her engadgment, she was calling her for dinner when she happened upon her mothers body. Her heart had been ripped out of her body after being raped and tortured.  
  
Victim 7 had been a worker at a local restaurants in her home town. Her body was found in the restaurants kitchen with every sharp item in there stabed into her body, even chopsticks.   
  
Victim number 8 had been a member of a womans sewing club. Her body had been found with her skin missing. It had been sewed onto a blanket found near by.  
  
Victim number 9 had been a member of a high class socitey family. She had been choked to death with her own wealth and belongings.  
  
Victim number 10 had been the wife of a fellow police officer. She had been stabed in the leg, her husbends own sword embeded in to her chest, raped, her stomach cut open and the fetus in side of her decapitated. She had been 4 months pregnant.  
  
Kikyou looked at the folder and saw that the folder was half open and some of the pictures of the victims bodys had been slipped out. Turning her head away from the gursome pictures she sighed as she looked at her old priestess outfit. Forming a fist with one hand she stood up and left the room to take a walk for the night.  
  
'Naraku...I won't let you get away with this, if its me you want then I'm waiting.'  
  
Part 4: A unlikely partnership (Part one)  
  
The light of the setting sun glowed with the tale tale sign of the darkness of light soon appearing. Saitou put another cigarrete in his mouth and lit it as he stood in front of the police station, he stepped inside seeing as he had to know what this was all about anyway. He didn't need another partner and he knew it, so what if his other partner had gotten killed. It was all about he not being able to keep up with him anyway. He should be looking for the murderer that killed 10 woman, inclueding the fact that one was his wife. She had been dead for 3 months now. And so far he or anyone else for that matter had no leads at all. He hadn't left any evidence, he simply vanished, like a ghost or a demon for which the murders were named after. Finding the office of his boss the commissioner, he walked in and sat down.  
  
The commissioner turned around in his chair and looked at him. "I bet you already know what this is about, well lets not waste time. I'd like to introuduce your new partner Saitou, a miss Kikyou Tama."  
  
Kikyou stepped out of the shadows and dusted off her navy blue skirt and blouse, with one gloved hand. Then turned toward Saitou. "Its a pleasure to met you."  
  
Okay sorry for leaveing the chapter so short but one of my favorite anime shows is about to come on, so don't mind the spelling mistakes! Also Kikyou's outfit is just like Saitou's and anyother police officer seen on RK, hers just has a skirt and black high heels.   
  
Well read and review, so the next chapter will come out faster. Bye, bye! 


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:**

Disclaimer: If I owned you would know it.

* * *

Darkness

Part 6: A unlikely partnership (part two)

Kikyou studied the human before her. She had worked with humans before, either to get something or to give something. Which one would this one be? Give or get... Either way it was going to interesting. After all his spirit is a mystery and his soul as dark as hers. And how long until he knew what she was? That was a hard question to answer.

Stepping out of the shadows she said: "Its a pleasure to meet you." But it wasn't a pleasure at all, it was actually a reward for days of boredom and acting. She would have rather said: "What took you so long?"

Standing in front of him was a little hard though. Not because of his intense stare studying her like she was studying him, but because of keeping herself in control. He was the husband of one of the victims, and a police officer. Maybe he knew something she didn't, he was on the scene when they took his wife's body away. He might have saw something she didn't. It was a battle just to keep herself from jumping on him and yelling at him to tell her what he knew.

But like it or not they were already partners. The deed was already signed and she now had to treat him with respect. Even if she would have rather liked to just ask him what he knew then leave. She didn't believe that there was "two of a kind" or the "perfect partnership".

Looking with him was almost like looking in a mirror. A human and male mirror perhaps, but a mirror none the less. And the commissioner wouldn't want it any other way.

Thinking of that she looked from the human in front of her to the commissioner and said: "I have to work with "him"?"

The commissioner, seeing that a fight might break out from both of their gloomy expressions replied. "Just for awhile, until you solve this case."

Saitou looked to the commissioner and said. "I have to work with a woman? Is this a joke, what is she going to do? Act like bait? Its almost laughable."

The commissioner cried out a little in surprise when Kikyou jumped on Saitou. She put one of her arrowheads against his neck. Putting her face very close to his she glared at him.

She expected him to either look afraid, mad, or beg for his life. Instead he just sat there, no emotion on his face. It mirrored hers. A little unnerved but emotionless still, she rose up from him and put the arrow back in her bag.

Gulping the commissioner sighed and sat back down in his chair. If both of them died he would no longer have a police force. Sighing again and looking at the two of them he decided to just give them the plain truth.

"You two are the best we have, so deal with it and stop acting like children." he received a glare for that one, but besides the silent death threats he continued. "Yes Kikyou's a woman, and I know its a big blow to both of your prides to work together, but deal with it! God can't you just work with someone for once!? I know you don't need the help but dammit we have a murder running through Japan, and you two are the most qulifyed to take him down. Now play nice and get the hell out of my office."

Suprisntly, they listened to him and left. After giving him a cold glare, but they left.

Kikyou lost sight of Saitou once he left the commissioner's office. Sighing she looked around once then disappeared in to the darkness.

* * *

Getting a good distance away from the police station and the commissioner's office, along with away from that strange woman, he stopped and leaned against the cold wall of a closed down building. Lighting a cigarette he was lost in his thoughts when he felt a cold wind pass by and blow out his cigarette.

"Having fun partner?"s aid Kikyou's voice from the darkness.

A faint flicker of annoyance passed over his eyes. Chewing on the end of his cigarette he replied: "Come out, Kikyou."

It was silent for a moment then laughter was heard. A high pitched sound like water glasses or birds, or even sirens... It stopped and Saitou could have sighed, that laughter was--he hated to admit it--unnerving.

A pale hand reached out in the darkness. It took the the cigarette out of his mouth and then Kikyou's head appeared in front of his.

"Smoking is a very bad habit, plus it kills. I would like to leave the death of you to me." she said. Smiling she laughed at her words like it was a joke and disappeared.

"Yeah, and being a annoying bitch is a habit for you."he replied. Kikyou stepped out of the darkness and stood before him frowning.

Taking the smile off her face she turned it into a emotionless mask and looked up at him. "Lets cut the crap shall we? We should work together if we want to catch Naraku-" At those words she was slightly surprised to feel the blade of a sword against her neck.

"How about you cut the shit and stop playing your games, If you know his name then you must know him. Your just lucky I don't kill woman." he said. Kikyou's eyes widened slightly, but then she started laughing again. "What's so funny?"

"You! Me work with him? Why that's, as you would say, "laughable". I'm trying to kill him, and I'm not working with him. In never worked for him. You see he has a lot more victims then you think, and I'm one of them. You humans are all the same... You pretend to know all but you don't know anything. I guess I was wrong about you, your not at all the big bad wolf that your co workers seem to think. And I don't buy for a second that you haven't killed a woman, but I don't think you'll kill me."said Kikyou as she lifted her head a little to look up at him once more.

"Yeah, well I don't believe that you'll live if I slash your throat, and what do you mean by "you humans"?"asked Saitou as he studied the woman in front of him.

"You only see with eyes half open, there's another world if you only wish to see it." Kikyou replied as she looked from the sky to him. The darkness made its presence know as it curled around their feet. Taken a little off guard by "It", Saitou looked down then back at Kikyou. "The question is: "Do you want to see it?" "

Saitou pushed her away from him and Kikyou started laughing once more. "Damn wi--"

"I'm not a witch, I'm a priestess. Well, I was. Now I'm just an ex priestess, but it seems that I still have my powers, and they have evolved." said Kikyou as she turned toward Saitou. "Now do you want to see my world? Because if you do you're going to have to believe in demons and me. After all you use a cat to catch a mouse, so you shall use me to catch Naraku. I'll shall see you in the morning, then we'll head for Tokyo. Good night "Mr. Wolf"." said Kikyou as she turned around, waved at him, then disappeared.

Saitou looked at where she was for a minute then lit another cigarette and walked off into the night.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Review. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** Thank you guys again for all the great reviews! Except for those who flamed me, because those people can rot in hell!

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 4, part 6: Haunted as a Dream From Afar...

_Some embrace only shadow, some embrace only light_---(From the song "Book of Life". And this fan fiction is also dedicated to Lilly. Thank you for helping me come this far, you will always be remembered.)

Whooooo(SE)

Somewhere in the distance a owl gave off its never ending call. "Who" was in fact the right question to ask.

Kikyou looked up at the sky. She would be leaving these lands soon, so it was better now than never to do what she did every night.

Put flowers upon her grave. Or flowers upon the grave of others killed because they looked like her...

The light from the half moon barely illuminated the trees in front of her, and too the untrained eye the shadowed trees looked like demons ready to attack. But Kikyou brushed past these illusions, she knew that the only demon in these woods was herself. It was fitting to be serving and protecting the very thing she hated.

Or envied was a better word. After all, humans could feel, she could not. Her heart was long since dead to feeling since it died on that day...

"Heh, that day was the best day in my life. You should have killed me sooner Kagome... Making me what I am will be your mistake. But it shall be Naraku's first. After all, I should thank you. You helped me to become stronger..."

* * *

Awakening was like being asleep, it was often confused and tiring. Or was it going to sleep was like awakening?

There was certainly nothing good to wake up to except for the promise of another day, something to kill, cigarettes...

And the priestess. Who of course was going to drag him half way across Japan for a demon (He still didn't believe her.) and more riddles from herself.

And god did he hate riddles.

Saitou opened his eyes with a groan. He wasn't looking forward to working with a partner. Once his vision separated itself from sleep, he noticed one of two things.

One. The window was open.

Two. And someones brown eyes were looking into his own eyes.

"Damn you! Do you call this waking me up!" he yelled at Kikyou as he pushed her off him.

"No I call it seeing what your made of." she said as she straightened her clothes and laughed another one of her high pitched, water glass laughs.

Saitou stood up. He had had it with her. Partner or no partner. Woman or no woman, he wasn't about to work with her. Taking his sword out of its sheath, he put it against her neck. Kikyou put her head to the side in a half smile. Allowing her loose hair, free from it ribbon, to fall to the side and away from her neck where the sword was put up against. Letting her eyes room over the blade then over his face until she met his eyes again, she smiled.

A minute passed before one of them moved. Kikyou put up a white gloved hand and pushed his sword away. "In the future, I would like very much if you acted on your actions. You may have to kill me someday..."

Saitou put away his sword and put on his shirt. Walking up to the window and standing next to her, he watched the sunrise with her by his side. After it was over he voiced what had been going through in his head. "What do you mean exactly. And don't give me a riddle."

Kikyou smiled sightly and turned herself to look up at him, once more meeting his eyes. "But life would be no fun with out riddles. Theres a difference from being told something, knowing something, and seeing something for yourself. If the answers to life were held out to you on a sliver plater, it would make life boring wouldn't it?"

Saitou blinked, he wasn't expecting that answer. Frowning he turned around and started walking out the door with Kikyou following after him.

* * *

Brushing there way past the crowd, they were almost half way there to the vessel that would take them to Tokyo. Stopping suddenly, Kikyou looked around with a puzzled expression on her face.

"What are you doing just standing around for, your the one who woke me up so that we could leave early. So lets go." said Saitou. He started walking away from her until Kikyou reached out a hand and grabbed his arm.

"No. Just wait...that feeling... Somethings bad going to happen... Naraku..." said Kikyou mostly to herself. He was about to turn around and ask her what she meant by Naraku, when a explosion interrupted them. Yards ahead of them, their transportation to Tokyo exploded. Fire started spreading and people started screaming.

"Let them be...we'll walk..."said Kikyou before Saitou could continue. Letting go of his arm, she went back the way they came before he could say anything...

Or see her expression. It was one of pure sadness...

Mixed in with pure hatred

(End chapter)

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Review. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** Rewrite.

Disclaimer: No I do not own. If I did, I would be publicly telling people about asshole flamers that flame me. And I would be to busy to write fan fiction anyway, since I would ACTUALLY be putting this on tv or in a manga.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 5, Part 7: Memory.

They walked the road alone.

It had been two hours since their vessel to Tokyo had exploded, thanks to Naraku. It seemed that now they would have to journey on foot in order to get to where they were going. The sun was setting and and night fell early in the dark wood.

"Hurry up will you?"asked Kikyou over her shoulder. She hated walking with people. They never walked at the same pace as herself and they always seemed to take their time. Even if her feet hurt because of the western style shoes she was wearing, at least she was walking faster then him.

"I'll walk at my own pace."replied Saitou. He stopped, leaned against a tree, and lit a cigarette. Kikyou stopped as well and turned around. She walked back to him and stood in front of him with a slightly annoyed face.

"Do you want to catch Naraku or not? Aren't you worried at all? Your own wife was one of the victims and here you are--"

Kikyou was cut off as his golden eyes locked with hers. He pushed her aside and started walking again. She had hit a nerve, but at least it got him to keep walking. Turning toward him, she quickly started walking again herself. She almost bumped into him when he turned around and glared down at her.

"Don't ever tell me if I want to catch that bastard or not. I have more reasons then you do, _priestess_, so don't bring up my wife either." With that, Saitou turned back around and kept walking. Kikyou didn't, she had a slightly shocked look on her face, but it quickly changed to a more emotionless and cruel expression. Then she started laughing, putting a gloved hand to her mouth to try to stop it as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Priestess am I? I'm more of what you are now, a police officer of a law I don't believe in. And still mourning your wife Saitou? Hmm? Guess I'll just have to do something about that before we reach Naraku..."Kikyou said mockingly. Saitou turned around and walked slowly back toward her, while Kikyou continued to laugh. She was too busy laughing to notice, until the last moment, when he tried to punch her across the face.

Kikyou dodged it and jumped away from him more quickly then the normal eye could see. But he could see it, and with a hand that Kikyou this time couldn't dodge, he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into a oak tree to the right of them. The force of the attack caused Kikyou's vision to cloud for a moment, when it cleared she noticed that the hand around her throat wasn't letting go. It was holding on tighter and tighter, getting harder and harder for her to breath. She raised up both of her hands and tried to peel his fingers away but he wouldn't let go, and Kikyou didn't have the strength to push him away.

"One more word, just one more word bitch and I'll end it here. Right here in this nice little forest, maybe some nice little boy will find your body hanging from this tree like a Christmas ornament." Saitou growled out, then let go as Kikyou started turning blue. Kikyou fell to the ground on her knees and put her hands around her throat. She started coughing, trying to regain the air that she had lost.

Saitou walked away then looked back at her once over his shoulder. His expression a perfect mask of disgust. Kikyou looked up at him when she could breath normally and glared. She hadn't expected that to happen. '_It seems like I underestimated you Saitou...It won't happen again.' _And with that thought she stood up and continued following him.

After that incident they continued traveling. It was now approaching night and the light from the setting sun was reflected off the top leaves and branches of the trees around them. Stopping, Kikyou looked up at the sky when they reached a clearing in the forest. Saitou took this opportunity to light a cigarette and sat down on a tree stump.

Whether they knew it or not, they both watched the sunset on the trees together. When darkness fell Kikyou left the clearing in the woods and Saitou didn't question her. He wanted her to leave, something about what she said struck a cord in him.

_"And still mourning your wife Saitou? Hmm...I guess I'll just have to do something about that before we reach Naraku..."_

It was true, his wife's passing did affect him. And that was a weakness he couldn't afford. That and...

All the victims, even his wife, looked in some way, shape, or form like the woman he was working with.

What could that mean? Maybe Naraku wasn't just a serial killer, killing woman because of their looks alone, maybe he was looking for someone...

Kikyou had walked quite a few yards from where Saitou was until she came upon some seasonal wild flowers. Smiling a small smile to herself, she kneeled down and started picking flowers. A memory came to her as she did this, one so violent that she stopped what she was doing and crushed a small flower in her gloved hand.

Her and Rin were picking flowers and Rin was smiling, saying how much she loved spending time with her new "mommy" and asking her to stay with her and Sesshoumaru forever.

Unfortunately, she had said yes. Not knowing that later she would leave Rin alone with the monster that she had thought was her "husband".

_'Stop it. It won't help to think of such memories...Its over. I can't go back to that life...I can't ever go back to it!' _thought Kikyou to herself as she opened the palm of her hand, that had crushed the flower, and then continued picking flowers.

She chuckled softly, a sad laugh full of just a drop of self-pity. It was all she would allow of herself. Over and overs she kept falling for men with golden eyes, and over and over she kept getting hurt. Now and in the past.

It was late when the "ex" priestess came back to the clearing where Saitou was still sitting. Seeing him still there, she quickly hid the small bouquet of flowers behind her back. Not wanting him to know her secret, that the flowers were for the memory of his dead wife.

She always set up a small headstone/alter to the humans that had died because of her. She did it every night, and this night was no exception.

Kikyou just didn't want Saitou to know about it.

'Damn...I shouldn't have came back to check on him. He's a big boy after all. Besides, I'm sure mister "wolf" would be more than eager to take on a couple of demons.' Grinning to herself from the thought, and seeing that if she left he would notice it anyways, she stepped from the shadows of the trees and up to him. Cold smirk in place, she leaned over his still form and said: "And here I thought "Mr. Wolf" would be out strangling some mother hens."

Saitou didn't move from where he was sitting, nor did he acknowledge her presence. Kikyou's smirk faded from her face and she stood completely up and crossed her arms over her chest, the flowers forgotten.

"A penny for your thoughts Mr. Wolf? I'm sure you would like to express your feelings, you're not one to be quiet without reason. Unless you are planning to strangle me? Again..." Kikyou trailed off, she hadn't forgotten the incident, in fact she still had his gloved hand prints around her throat. And through she wouldn't admit it...

She thought that she was honestly going to die again in that moment. That and...

Kikyou was, even through she would never admit this either, a little afraid of him. Something about that moment had made her realize that he was more like her then he or herself would think.

She had forgotten the strength of a man, or the strength of one who has lost everything, even the power to feel beyond hatred.

"Don't say anything then! I don't see why I came back, you--"she was cut off as a familiar pain in her back flared up. This time it was more intense then before and she doubled over slightly and put a hand to her throat, sure that this time she was going to cough up blood. The flowers fell out of her hands, raining down on them. _'Damn...What a great moment for that old wound to flair up...' Kikyou thought to herself and closed her eyes out of embarrassment. Of all the times...'_

Something surprising happened then. The "wolf" put a hand on her shoulder. Kikyou opened one eye and looked up at his face. As their eyes met he finally said something: "I didn't think I hurt you that much..."

If Kikyou was still the blushing sort, she would have blushed. Both out of embarrassment that he had seen her in a vulnerable state, and the fact that this was the closest that she had been to the opposite sex since Inuyasha or Sesshouamaru. That is, if she had still been alive and cared about such things. But instead of blushing, she stood up so that she could at least regain some of her pride. No matter how much her back was hurting her.

She took her hand away from her throat and gave him a cool, calm, and collected gaze. Hoping that he would get the point that she was "alright" and remove his hand from her shoulder. But alas it seemed that he didn't get the message because, surprisingly, he left his hand where it was.

His golden eyes shifted to the collar of her navy uniform. Kikyou watched his face with a cold, yet curious, stare. Most woman in this situation would start thinking the worse. Blush, yell, run away...Yet Kikyou stood her ground. She wanted to see what would happen, plus she knew that she could stop it when ever it got out of hand.

She still held the upper hand.

Saitou's hand, that had been at his side, moved up to the collar of her uniform. Kikyou stiffened, prepared to kill him if necessary. As his hand reached its destination. He moved a side on the collar of her uniform jacket aside and put a gloved hand against the pale flesh of her exposed neck. In the moon light one could clearly make out the still red marks.

With his hand still where it was, he quietly asked her: "Did I do that?" Kikyou gazed up into his eyes and glared at him. What kind of game was he playing? Like he didn't know?

But the gentleness in his voice caught her off guard again.

Kikyou, for the first time since she had doubled over in pain, spoke: "What are you doing? You know FULL well what you did! And don't say you regretted it! Now would you "kindly" remove yourself from me?"

The moment was lost.

Any normal person probably would have froze from that voice and ran away for their life. Saitou just smirked and leaned in closer to her. Kikyou, instantly, leaned away. But the hand on her shoulder gripped on to her tighter, preventing her from leaning too far.

Seeing the situation that she was in, Kikyou glared at Saitou. She pulled away from him, or at least tried before he moved the hand on her shoulder to her waist and pulled her closer to him. She looked to the hand on her waist, then at the man in front, and continued to glare daggers. If anything, Saitou's smirk widened. He pressed her to him and caressed the back of her neck with the hand on her throat.

Kikyou at this point was suppose to be ripping him apart, instead she silently showed her anger by frowning. Even Inuyasha--no--Sesshomaru wouldn't be this stupid. Or dare something like this without her consent. The hands hanging at her sides balled up into fists.

_'What are you thinking Saitou?'_ Thought Kikyou, she waited for him to say something as a cold wind blew. Finally he did, but instead of explaining his actions, instead he didn't. "Cold?,"He asked."You should be."

"Why are you doing this?" Kikyou asked him, her head resting against his chest. She awaited his answer.

Saitou leaned in close to her ear. "Why? Well maybe it's the fact that you look like my wife..."

Kikyou wasn't expecting this. Her head instantly shot up to look at the forest greenery to the side of him. Anything but him. It hurt. More than she had thought it would.

Secretly, she had been expecting this. She knew she held a resemblance to all the victims. She knew that a small part of her looked like his wife. She just thought he wouldn't notice it. Even though it would be a little hard not to. No wonder he had called her "bait" when she first met him.

"Now how do you explain that hmm? How would you feel if the same person standing before you looked just like someone that you loved? Someone that you cared about? Now you tell me why you're the one playing games. I should have known sooner...I'm surprised I didn't see it before.You're the one Naraku's really after..."

Kikyou's eyes widen slightly at his words. It was all true. She knew it, he knew it, hell the commissioner himself probably knew it and set the whole thing up as some sort of cruel joke to get back at her. This threw quite a wrench in the whole thing. She ended up keeping her cool.

Laughing a little she said in a cold voice: "Does it please you to hold the shell of your wife? Knowing that what you hold onto is nothing but another imitation? You act like you're the only person that has ever had to deal with a person that looked like someone close to them...I pity you...Get your kicks, oh please do, I'll be the one laughing in the end. And where do you think this will lead up to, hmm? Huh Mr. Wolf?"

Saitou stiffened slightly. Kikyou smirked. Now things were finally getting interesting. She leaned into his embrace and encircled her arms around his waist. Moving her head up to his ear, she softly whispered.

"Oh, please hold me Mr. Wolf...I'm "your" shell...I'm "your" wife..."

His eyes widened slightly, was it just his imagination or for a second did she sound like his wife? Saitou pushed her away from him and Kikyou tripped over a rock and fell down on her back.

She started laughing insanely, her hair had come loose of its ribbon and fell over her face. Kikyou sat up on one elbow and slowly raised her head up towards him..

Saitou backed up until the backs of his legs hit the tree stump he had been sitting on, through even the pain of that couldn't take his face away from the "woman" in front of him.

With her hair down, she almost exactly looked like Tokio.

Kikyou grinned, seeing his reaction. Completely different from the calm and collected face that was usually in place. He was finally seeing who was the wolf and who was the "hen".

He was in more danger then he knew.

* * *

Part 8: Though You Can Run

"What's wrong, "dear", you don't want me anymore?"

Kikyou smiled at the man before her, putting on a fake mask of innocence. He started this game, he might as well see it through.

"Hold me..."

Crawling toward him, she licked her lips as she took her time. Let's see who is better at taunting who.

"Take me..."

Saitou didn't react, he didn't even move. He was still trying to get over the fact that he had indeed lost the upper hand. That his heart had been exposed and was being devoured by this cruel woman. The line between the living and the dead swayed and snapped, caught in the current that is Kikyou.

"Satisfy me..."

That and the woman before him resembled so much like his wife that it almost pained him.

Naraku...That was the person that had started this.

But was it really? There were ten victims all holding her face, and she was only number eleven. Or maybe she was the original? But then in question, how could eleven different woman all look like each other yet not be related? Somehow, he thought the gods were laughing.

Kikyou had finished crawling toward him, her smiled grew bigger as she looked up at him and put a hand on his leg. Gripping the fabric under her fingers, she put her other hand on his opposite leg, but a little higher up, climbing her way up until she was on her knees. Kikyou looked in front of her at the navy fabric in front of her face and whispered into it: "So what are you going to do? I could be your wife Saitou...I could be "your" doll..."

Saitou, didn't answer. He took this moment to look in front of him. He moved a hand to the sword at his hip and unsheathed it. Kikyou heard the slight hiss of steel but didn't move from her suggestive position.

"Kikyou..."

"...Yes Saitou...Your wish is my command after all? So what is it that you desire?..."Kikyou, sweetly, asked.

"I desire you..."

"Yes?"

"To get down on the ground."

Before Kikyou knew what was happening, she was pushed to the ground and Saitou jumped to the right. Splinters of wood chips filled the air and rained down on them. Kikyou blinked up at the stars, that was not what she had been expecting.

She rolled over on to her stomach and looked ahead of her.

At first all she saw were some flowers (the ones that she herself had picked, long forgotten in their "conversation") and then slowly, she saw a shape in the shadows. She barely had enough time before the thing struck out again to recognize that it was a demon.

A chain scythe, lashed out at Kikyou and she barely had time to react, to dodge both the chain and the murderous blade at the end.

In fact, she had no time at all.

Kikyou closed her eyes as she awaited the cold touch of the steel, then the pain, then finally death. And a horrible one at that.

But it never happened. Instead she felt the warmth of blood. A bloody rain free from pain. Kikyou opened her eyes to see Saitou's arm in front of her face. His shoulder was pierced by the weapon, it had gone through it. He had saved here.  
"Don't just stand there!"growled out Saitou. Kikyou blinked then realized that she still was in the land of the living. For now anyway. Sitting up, then standing, she turned to face the demon in front of her and Saitou saw that rather then run and get out her pack of arrows, which was close by, she stood where she was. With a determined face she walked past Saitou and then stopped and turned to look at him.

"Give me your weapon."she requested, all trace of emotion gone. Saitou looked up at her with a half surprised, half amused expression. Kikyou waited patiently as he weighed his options, then said: "You will die from blood loss if you don't. He will jerk back his weapon, in five seconds, sending you flying with it. Ripping bone and tissue out, causing your body to be shredded apart like paper. Through you could live from this, we aren't near a hospital and in the dark I doubt I could find the correct herbs to save your life. Give me your weapon."

Saitou smirked, then handed it over to her. "Always the smart one, huh? Well, just don't hurt yourself, _priestess_."

"I won't."

Kikyou grasped the sword in one hand as she turned to the demon in front of her. For the first time, emotion spread across her lovely face: "Let's play."

The owl demon shrieked its head off. It was finally getting its chance to please lord Naraku. He requested her brought to him, but how she was brought in he didn't say...

Abandoning the chain around his wrist, he shrieked again and charged at the beautiful priestess in front of him.

Kikyou smiled. This was what she was waiting for, this was a high level demon. Not as powerful as herself, but what more could she ask for?

Standing her ground Kikyou's eyes turned into a even darker shade, almost to a complete black, she lowed her head and held the sword out in front of her. She placed her other hand on top of the blade, waiting.

"So you "desire" me too huh? I'm quite popular tonight..."

The demon kept charging, taking her words for nothing but the rambling of the condemned.

"Oh, but let me tell you, I may not have many traits...I'm not the best woman, I'm quite evil as they say...But such as me has a heart..."

The owl demon smiled and arched one of his winged hands in front of him. His feathers could turn into quite the weapon, since he now had the power to turn them into blades as well. All thanks to lord Naraku.

"So I'll do this...It's a one time opportunity. I'll end this quick...So that you may get to hell before Naraku!" Kikyou's head snapped up and her now all black eyes stared at nothing but the target. Just as the demon reached her, she was gone in a flash. Only to appear behind him.

"Tell this to your master... Kikyou bows to no man, kill all he wants, I'll kill him in the end!" And with that Kikyou (while in mid air) brought the blade down on his head. A sicking crack was heard as the sword cut through his skull and the soft tissue underneath it. Blood spurted out to drench Kikyou's demonic face and she smiled, letting some of the fluid enter her mouth, indifferent to the taste. Her feet touched the ground again and she looked at the body in front of her, still spurting blood, as it fell to its knees. She started licking the blade clean as the body fell in front of Saitou.

Saitou meanwhile, was getting quite dizzy from blood loss. But even that couldn't keep him from seeing what Kikyou had done with his sword.

He had to smile, it was almost something he himself would do. Almost... He leaned forward slightly. Something wasn't normal about this blade... He experienced blood loss before but nothing as fast as this.

'The blade...' Saitou turned his head to look at it, only to see it slightly glowing. And was it just his imagination or was it embedding itself deeper in his arm, drawing out more blood.

Kikyou finished her task of licking the sword clean and turned toward Saitou with a slight smile that disappeared off her face.

_'Naraku...Quite like him to plan ahead. I should have known that he wouldn't send just one demon to defeat me. It seems that now he knows how to make demonic blades...' _Kikyou thought as she kneeled in front Saitou.

"You look awful..."Kikyou said with a blooded smile. Saitou just gave her a slightly weary look and said nothing. It seemed that the blade was draining him faster than she thought it would. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he looked.

Kikyou put a hand on his chest and pushed him onto his back. She leaned over him, inspecting the damage. Moving to his left, the side where his injured arm was, she sat down on her knees and put his arm in her lap. She frowned again and touched the blade lightly.

Through she was no longer a priestess, and declared quite "unholy", the shock that went through her hand still proved that she had at least a fragment of her priestess aura intact. Pulling her hand away, she was dismayed to see that the blade was still embedding its self further into his arm, making more blood spill out in the process. At this rate, he would die at blood loss. Or lose his arm. Or both.

Sure she could just pull it out, but if she pulled it out too quickly or ruffly then more blood would flow out and she didn't have bandages. And if she slowly pulled it out—no that was not a option. If she took her time the blade would speed up its process of killing him and she had already wasted enough time. Through there was always the other option...

Let him die. He deserved it. He knew too much, and he was better off anyway.

Best to face the fires of hell than travel with a demon.

But it seemed her conscience wouldn't let her make such a decision. "_You know better than that, his body would be found and then what? Live a life on the run?"_

'I'm already living a life on the run...' she replied.

"_And admit it, you care. Why else would you be sitting here? If you didn't you would not be questioning yourself, you would be off already. You know what to do..."_

Kikyou sighed, you just couldn't beat your conscience. She turned to look at his half closed, hazy, eyes. Giving him a small smile, she said: "This will hurt a little wolf..."

She stood up and retrieved her bow and arrows, selecting a arrow that would do the job (one that was freshly made and had no blood stains) she quickly stabbed it into his open arm before he could protest.

His eyes widened a little and regained some of there normal color, as he yelled at her: "What the hell are you doing, Kikyou!?"

She didn't reply, instead she pinned his arm down by using both her powers and her thighs, then she leaned over his chest and started unbuttoning the buttons on the top part of his uniform.

"This isn't the time..."

"I'm not doing THAT idiot, I'm getting something to use as a make sift bandage. Unless you DO want to see me with hardly anything on." snapped Kikyou at him as she ripped the bottom part of his white undershirt until she had several long pieces of cloth.

Kikyou replaced the small smile with a evil little smirk as she saw Saitou turn his head away and give in to defeat. It seems that she had won...For now anyway. Closing his eyes, Saitou shouted at her: "Would you hurry up?"

Kikyou nodded and set to the task at hand. Her arrow would act as a conductor for the blades demonic energy, since it was purified the arrow would draw the blades energy to it instead of her hands. But it wouldn't stop the blade from continuing to embed itself in Saitou's arm. Kikyou gripped the end of it, and then pulled both slowly then quickly, alternating between the two speeds. When it came out in her hands, she tossed it away and took the arrow out of his arm. Grabbing the strips of makeshift bandages from his shirt, she wrapped it tightly around his arm.

"There, that will have to do until dawn. Then I can find a town or some herbs to fully fix your arm." Kikyou said then put her arm around Saitou's shoulders, watching out for his injured side, and helped him stand up after putting her sack of arrows and bow over her shoulder.

Saitou's eyes snapped open and her growled at her. "I can walk on my own!"

Kikyou looked up at him with grim determination. "Look, it may have been your arm that got hurt, but you have lost a lot of blood. Stop being so stubborn for once and put your pride away so that I can make sure that you don't hurt yourself further! You ARE my patient for the moment, so deal with it and shut the hell up!"

At this Saitou smiled and turned to look down at her. "So...You are like me when it comes to anger."

"Oh, shut the hell up."

(Chapter End)

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Review. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** Usually I try to update my chapters with what's at the bottom of the bin at my profile page on But since I don't know what to write for Curse of Humanity or Four Seasons, and I now have 105 reviews, I shall update this. That and I have something important to say about the reviews I have received:

It would be pointless to write about all 105 reviews I received and point out the pointlessness in some of them, so I will sum it up in a neat little sentence: How stupid. Some people wrote one little word and then thought I was suppose to be so fucking happy with that. Of course, some of them were good words made by good people, but some of them just pissed me off. If you don't like this story, or you like it, then please don't waste my time and please tell me WHAT you liked or didn't like about it. I appreciate each and every good review I receive, but I also don't want to reread all my chapters two thousand times just to find out what YOU liked about this story.

From now on, you must write 2 or more words for the review you write for this. AND you must tell me what you liked or didn't like about it. Some people did tell me what they liked about this story, and to them, thank you.

It's not that I'm ungrateful, I appreciate your reviews. But anyone would get more than suspicious when people titled "A", "B", and so on and other sequence like names post a single word, all in one day. I don't know if it's a joke or what, but it's a little upsetting.

Thanks anyway, for the the reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fan fiction. I am not using this for profit, only for entertainment.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 6: Part 9: Dawn. 

The forest was quiet. Not a creature stirred, too afraid were the animals of the creatures that lurked in the forest. Not even the owl looked out of it's perch. The only sounds were the snap of branches as one human, and one not so human, continued their journey.

'How long till dawn?' Kikyou thought to herself as she looked up at what she could see of the night sky. The trees were too packed together to get a good view of the sky.

Kikyou stopped walking and let Saitou lean against a tree to the right of her. Kikyou then looked around for any herbs. Through it would be pretty hard for anyone to find their own hand in a forest at night without any light what so ever except the moon. Finding none, Kikyou turned back to Saitou to see how he was fairing.

The makeshift bandage around Saitou's shoulder seemed to be working, the bleeding had stopped. Hopefully the wound wouldn't become infected though.

"How are you doing Saitou ?" Kikyou asked him. She didn't ask because she was worried about him personally, she was asking because him dieing right now would complicate things more than they already were.

"How do you think I feel?" Saitou answered her, with more or less of the that famous attitude of his.

Kikyou let herself smile at this. None of this would have happened if he hadn't been trying to "play" with her. "Like shit I suppose. Listen, I think were almost out of the forest. It's almost dawn anyway-"

"And you think we'll be safe at dawn? Like in all the stories?"

Kikyou turned over the possible answers to this in her mind. No, Yes, maybe so, probably not. Finding one that she liked, silence, Kikyou said nothing.

Saitou sighed and used his right hand to push himself away from the tree. "Lets get going."

No further talk about whether they would be safe or not was spoken. Kikyou and Saitou continued at a slow steady pace because of his wound. Kikyou's mind was franticly trying to remember the path they used to be on. They had wandered off of it quite awhile ago and Kikyou felt like they were going in circles. Finally Kikyou stopped them as she saw a familiar formation of rocks that they had passed by for the 10th time.

"Why are you stopping?" Saitou asked irritably. Kikyou let him stand on his own two feet and looked around once more. She neither answered his question or her own similar one forming in her mind till she was sure they had indeed been walking in circles.

"We've been tricked in to walking in circles, I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier." Kikyou said at last.

"You mean you've been dragging us through the same area for the past half hour!?"

Kikyou sighed at Saitou's outburst. "No, it's not me. It's what's near us. An evil presence has made it's self known." Kikyou thought to herself by saying this to Saitou: 'I didn't sense this demon either, why? Is something wrong with me?'

"Evil presence, huh? Evil presence or not, I think that someone else should lead."

Kikyou snapped out of her thoughts and turned toward him. "What do you mean? You're injured, I can't--won't--follow an injured human."

Saitou glared at her and decided that this was the exact moment to tell her about something he had been musing about for some time. "You speak like your not human. If you're not, then what the hell are you? Don't give me another riddle this time either!"

"Saitou..."

Saitou turned away from Kikyou and tried to walk on his own. Kikyou reached out a hand toward him to stop him from going any further. Saitou turned quickly around and slapped her hand away. This action wasn't a smart one, because of the blood loss and because of the creature Kikyou had sensed, Saitou fell. Luckily, or not so luckily, Saitou fell back wards against a tree, but the tree itself wasn't real.

Kikyou watched as Saitou fell through the illusion and started falling down a unseen cliff. As Kikyou ran toward him and the area he fell to the illusions around her started to disappear and the real path opened up. What stopped Kikyou in her tracks was the possibility that she could just leave him here to his fate.

Kikyou got to the edge of the cliff and looked over her shoulder. 'I could just leave it at this. Go towards Naraku alone. I don't need some injured human around me. But...'

"If I just left and faced Naraku by myself I would lose my self. I would be no better than him. That's what he's hoping for. For me to just turn into a monster." Kikyou finished her thoughts out loud and started her descent down the cliff.

* * *

It felt like the world we crumbling beneath him. What had happened? 

'Damn witch, this is all her fault...'

But was that really true. Hadn't Kikyou been trying to help him? But what if Kikyou was-

Saitou's left shoulder hit the ground below first, making him cry out in pain and waking him up from what could have turned into a coma. Saitou clamped a hand over his injured arm and tried to sit up. The pain came roaring back along with the dizziness, both combined to make him sit down again. When the world started to spin Saitou closed his eyes again.

It seemed that he had landed in a small clearing below where he fell. At least there were no demons, yet.

A small noise behind him made Saitou turn his head in that direction and open his eyes. There was nothing there, no wait, there was something. It was almost lost in the moonlight, but it was defiantly a large spiders web. But what kind of spider could make a web big enough to engulf several trees?

And what was that sound just now? Was that clicking? Saitou turned his head just in time to see four pairs of eyes stare into his own.

"My...what a handsome man..." The voice that reached his ears was smooth and inviting. A pale hand reached out from the darkness and caressed his chin.

"And bleeding too... I've been so hungry for a long time. A very long time... hungry for flesh... hungry for blood."

More eyes a appeared as the voice, the arms, and the woman wrapped itself around him.

* * *

Kikyou slid down the cliff with her arms over her face to keep from getting scratched by stray branches and jagged rocks. The evil presence she had felt earlier was very strong now. Now Kikyou could even tell what kind of demon it was. 

'Spider...' Kikyou hissed in her head. Spider demons were master tricksters, second only to foxes who dealt more with riddles than with illusions. Could Saitou have already ran into it? Kikyou had no doubt that under ordinary circumstances he could deal with it, but he was heavily wounded and suffering from blood loss.

Kikyou could defeat the demon, but the time it would cost could kill Saitou. Sunrise was almost here anyway, and the exit to the forest loomed ahead. But who would live to see it?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I would continue with this chapter, but I wanted to get this one out as soon as possible so I could work on something else and let people know that I"m not dead. I just had moving and Internet problems. That and I'm a Gemini, were not known for sticking with what we start. 

Next chapter: Kikyou faces against the spider demon and daylight comes. Will Saitou be okay? Hopefully, because him dieing of blood loss would be a real shame. But,oh, well, we'll find out next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait. I actually finished this one earlier, I was just waiting for me to get started on my other projects and update them all in one day. But why wait?

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 7: Part 10: Chasing Dawn

"_Will we see each other again?"_

The words that I wanted to say, they escaped me that day. I felt... I felt like the world was holding it's breath and that your very answer could determine whether we'll be here tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that. If we'll be this way for eternity.

"_Of course, why wouldn't we? We'll see each other again. Don't worry so much."_

The words that you did manage to say made the world breath again, but I held my breath this time. Whatever I wanted you to say, it wasn't that. And with the setting of the sun, I knew, some part of me knew, that we wouldn't see each other again, not here.  
In the future I want--

"_Inuyasha, wait!"_

I want to be able to feel all right. I want to be able to protect everything. I want to be able to save myself, not the world.

_Can't you tell me that you love me? _Was what I was thinking. But what I said was:

"_See you tomorrow, don't forget our agreement." _And as an after thought. _"Don't forget me."_

Inuyasha nodded and walked, while I continued to hold my breath, chasing, searching, for a feeling I will never forget or be able to taste again.

* * *

"Saitou!!"

Kikyou landed on her feet and shouted his name before going into a fit of coughs, some dust from her descent down the cliff must have clogged her lungs.

"Saitou!!" Another desperate shout. If she lost him... If she lost another... If another person died because of her--

"Saitou..." As if to break the train of her thoughts, but with out the will to shout, Kikyou once again called the name of her partner.  
Was he gone? Was he dead or living?

'I can't give up. That's just what Naraku would want. Most likely he's just knocked out cold. But--'

A sound, like the click of a small pebble hitting the cobble stones, broke her out of her thoughts and made her swerved around to attack.

Nothing was there, nothing at all except the darkness. No wait, there was something, reflected in the moon light were threads of a material more finer than hair and stronger than steel. Webbing, demon webbing. More clicking sounds, faster this time, as if something was mocking her plight. But there was something else in that clicking, malice, pure hatred.

Kikyou, not to be intimidated, stepped forward and headed toward the noise, all the while keeping a arrow notched in her bow. As the clicking grew louder she could hear another noise as well, the steady drip of some fluid.

Kikyou stopped suddenly, finding the source of the dripping sound She looked up into the dark abyss of the sky and trees. A drop of the fluid fell on her forehead and she recoiled, it was too warm and the smell of it was sicking. She wiped away the substance and continued walking backward until she was back where she started.

Her eyes grew wide. Blood. What was dripping was blood. But whose blood was it?

_'I can't sense it, I can't sense anything! Saitou, is it--'_ She couldn't continue, instead she looked toward the noise. Her eyes had adjusted enough to this new form of darkness, enough so she could see that a steady growing puddle was forming at where she had previously stood. Kikyou looked up at the abyss once more and gasped.

Hanging suspended from the branches of the trees, arms (including his injured one) tied above his head, was Saitou. He seemed to either be unconscious or dead from the way he was hanging limply, it was impossible to tell with his eyes closed. All she could really see of him was his upper torso, which was naked and seemed to stand out in the shadows all around them.  
The clicking reached a new height, like the mad giggling of the insane. A blur ran across her line of vision and a dark object settled on to the branch above Saitou's head. Long dark hair fell down onto Saitou's shoulders but was quickly brushed away. Kikyou craned her neck to see her foe.

Demons, they never show their true face. One moment they're a beautiful woman and the next moment a vicious beast. Such was the case with this demon. Smiling down at her was an attractive young woman with a high forehead half covered by bangs, hair and eyes that were cold and as dark as coal, and ruby red lips. Dressed in an all black kimono and skin that rivaled the moon in paleness, she seemed to be either leaning down to look at her or Saitou. A hideous smile crawled across the demons face and ruined her beauty for a moment. Kikyou looked into her face, studying her features for a way to beat her and then let her eyes fall upon Saitou and the demon's hands.

The demon smiled again and then started to run her hands through Saitou's hair, the slight touch making him moan. Kikyou couldn't tell if that moan was because of pain or pleasure.

"Welcome Priestess."  
Kikyou nodded at the demon's words. First she would mock her and then she would fight her. Demons were so predictable. At least this time she could get a little information out of this wench of Naraku's and then move on to saving Saitou.

"What have you done to Saitou?"

"Getting right to the point are we?" The demon replied in a tone of false surprise. Her eyes stared into Kikyou's own dark eyes and the skin of her forehead divided to reveal the rest of her spider eyes, each as equally dark and sinister as the first pair. "There was many interesting things I could have done to him if you hadn't interrupted. But as it is I had to satisfy myself with a small bite." The spider let her right arm sweep across the space in front of Saitou's lower body, an area where Kikyou couldn't see.

"Is that all?" Kikyou asked, trying to gain more time to figure out how serious her venom was and how much time she had.

The arachnid laughed again, throwing back her head and letting out a sound more human this time. "We'll have more time once you're out of the way. Naraku feeds me well and it's been a long time since I've had a man after all."

Kikyou's left eye twitched, her arrogance was outstanding. "I don't give a damn about what Naraku gives his bitches."

The arachnid stopped her fiendish laughter and glared at Kikyou. "You were once one of his "bitches" too."

"I was NEVER one of his playthings!" Kikyou growled out at her and took up a fighting stance, she pulled back on her bow and let an arrow fly.

The demoness jumped up and back, thinking the arrow was meant for her, when in fact it was meant for Saitou. Kikyou ran forward using her inhuman speed and was in time to catch Saitou as the webbing holding him broke. Using her power, she managed to create a glowing shield around them. In the violet light she studied Saitou's injured body. One bite on his hip and his previous wounds seemed to have been reopened. Kikyou sighed and took off her jacket to cover his body. Leaving a arrow next to him, she concentrated and made a second shield to protect him.

From the depths of the darkness around them sounds grew and echoed. Ripping, slashing, tearing, and then more of that hideous clicking. A voice, deeper and more powerful then the demoness's last form's voice spoke to Kikyou:

"So, you decided to save the human first. I just can't understand you. No ties to demons, no ties to humans, no ties to the undead either. Just what are you, just why do you side with them and not your own kind?"

Kikyou bowed her head, listening and yet not listening, this question had been given to her various times by various demons and humans alike. A question that echoed throughout her own soul.

"_We'll see each other again." _--Inuyasha

"_You can't escape from me, I'm part of you also!" _--Kagome

"_You speak like you're not human. If you're not, then what the hell are you?" _--Saitou

Kikyou notched another arrow in her bow and let her aura flow into it and surround the arrow head, this aura was gray and not at all like the one surrounded Saitou. "I am what I am," Kikyou whispered out to the demoness, herself, Saitou, and the world. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

The arachnid demon rushed at her, her jaws open; dripping with poison, and her front legs suspended in the air menacingly. The spider was the size of a large ancient tree, towering over Kikyou. Still with her head bowed Kikyou let the arrow fly before the demon could touch her. The creature dodged and clicked to itself in merry amazement, but then shouted out in anguish, the arrow seemed to have turned after she dodged it and hit her in and through the chest.

How could such a fleet be possible?

'The Priestess, she--'

Kikyou interrupted the demons thoughts, as the creature was still on the ground, thrown there from her wound, Kikyou jumped up and switched weapons, changing to the sword she had held on to for Saitou. The demoness had just seconds to evade and barely managed to to get a foot away from Kikyou before her sword plunged into the ground where she had previously been.

Kikyou, still in her crouched and leaned over from her actions, looked up at the demon through her long hair. Blood lust was clearly evident and a rising aura of hatred seemed to rise around her and attack the ground at her feet, making the dirt and rock rise and sway like the violent waves of the sea. This aura, this warriors aura, seemed to rise and fall with the movement of her breathing and the blood in her veins. Kikyou's ribbon fell from her hair and her breathing increased, the darkness shrank away from her and reveled the pale light of dawn peeping through the trees to witness this fight between evils.

"What, what are you!?" The spider uttered again, stumbling over the words and stuttering in amazement at the sight before her. The priestess Kikyou seemed to be transformed into a raging, berserker! Her spirit eating up everything in it's path from it's malice.

Kikyou growled in response and then growled again savagely, the sound vibrated the ground and echoed around the two, making the birds and other animals take flight and flee from the dawn and the battle.

Kikyou rushed forward, the spider rushed backward and to the right. Kikyou changed direction, her eyes which seemed to have grown larger and to have taken on a red hue, followed the demoness. In vain the demoness tried to hit her with her webbing, hoping that this would slow her down, Kikyou slashed through it and managed to cut off the spiders back legs.

The stench of an insect demons blood filled the air and over powered the smell of human blood. The legs fell limp at the demoness's side and she let out a scream of agony as her unbalanced body fell backward, crashing into a tree and knocking it over.

This was suppose to be a easy fight, how could she, a high level demon, be defeated by a a mere undead priestess without even putting up a fight? This thought fueled the demoness into a rage, as Kikyou loomed over her to finish her off, she shot out her remaining legs and succeeded in hitting Kikyou in the abdomen. Kikyou flew back and stopped her fall with Saitou's sword. Kikyou glared at the spider and then smirked.

The spider looked on in mute horror as Kikyou stood up and unwrapped her arm from around her stomach, the blow had punctured her blouse but not her skin, she hadn't even coughed up blood.

Kikyou's eyes glanced at the sky, then to the spider, and then to Saitou whose breathing seemed to be coming in gasps. The spider's poison now turning his skin a pale shade of midnight blue bordering on black around his wounds, mingling with the poison already in his veins.. With another growl Kikyou gathered her energy and rushed at the spider again. Falling upon the fat arachnid body, Kikyou let the sword stab through the demoness, pinning her to the ground. Kikyou stood up, her legs spread apart and her other aura once more surrounding her. Through the strands of hair that covered her face, the spider and the few brave creatures that had stayed to witness the fight saw a opened mouth smile form on the priestesses face, a smile that was ghastly and astonishing as demon fangs seemed to protrude where her normal teeth once were.

"Y...you...you...you're--"

Kikyou tossed back her head and raised her arms. Silence could be heard throughout the forest, nothing breathed or moved beside the one human in the depths of the woods, then flapping of wings could be heard followed by a scream that drowned out the sound of tearing flesh and chased after the rising sun and the following dawn.

* * *

Part 11: The Ghost and the Wolf

The early morning light illuminated the outskirts of the village hidden behind the forest, much like a young girl behind her mother's skirts. Because of this natural protection few crimes or news from the outside world came to this small village, but the news (even if it was several weeks behind) of the latest murders had reached them. Daring to break the curfew, a young girl of the tender age of 13 walked quietly toward the edge of the forest. She was studying in herbs, being taught by her father the village doctor and chief. Her bare feet lightly touched the earth, trying not to make any sounds less someone, some early riser, see her or even worse the murderer. But with her light brown shoulder length hair and equally brown eyes she doubted such a thing would happen. She wasn't very lovely either, where the other victims had been beautiful she was rather plain. The only desirable feature she had was her kind heart.

With a happy smile on her face the girl, Yoko, halted her steps in front of the edge of the forest and bended down to look into the bushes. Finding the bush she wanted to find, she reached out her calloused hand to pick a few leaves when a sound stopped her. A sound like rustling leaves and leadened steps.

Frightened, Yoko pulled back her hand and took ten steps back. She was about to take more when the weary, angry voice inside of her stopped her.

_Why are you pulling back? You didn't stay up all night for nothing! It's probably just a squirrel or some other forest creature!_

Her determination renewed, Yoko faced the forest once more and picked just a few leaves before she heard the sound again, and this time it was directly in front of her!

Sensing someone looking down at her and hearing the heavy breathing of two beings, the girl looked up and screamed.  
A mangled man and woman towered over her. Both seemed to be heavily injured, their wounds still bleeding, their clothes were ripped and torn in various places. Only their major wounds were bandaged with bloody pieces of rags that were ripped from what seemed to be their clothing. The man, who even in sleep his face looked fierce yet handsome like a sleeping wolf, and the woman, who seemed to have a frighting aura and pale features like a ghost, seemed to be hanging on the edge of death.  
The ghost woman adjusted the wolf like man that she was holding on to and stared into the girls round frightened eyes. The ghost woman uttered just one word before falling forward:

"Naraku..."

* * *

Par 12: Licking Wounds

You were always there weren't you? Some how between hell and now you managed to find me and you decided to stay. I still don't know why.

"_If you stay by me you'll die."_

"_It's okay, I want to stay by you. We need each other."_

At first I thought the reason why you stayed by me was for protection or even something as stupid as trying to change me. But...

"_Only the strong can depend on the strong. We have no one else to depend on now."_

That wasn't why you stayed was it? At the time I couldn't find the right words to say to counter your words. If I was sarcastic, you might have left even though I doubt you would have. If I was harsh you would have given me that all knowing look that I hate. And if I agreed with you, you might have...

"_That's why I want you as a husband, Saitou, we'll balance each other out. We'll find a way to survive. I want to stay by you, even if I do die. That's my wish and my destiny. So don't push me away."_

I don't know what you would have done. I'll never know, not now not ever.

We didn't need to say such meaning less words as "I love you", just "I can depend on you to be there".

Maybe I didn't depend on you enough to actually be there when you needed me.

* * *

Cold hands brushed across his fever heated forehead. Saitou opened his eyes. The world around him seemed to be cast in a dark haze, objects seemed to blur in and out of focus.

'Shit, I really did fuck myself up.' Saitou thought to himself as he looked back on what he could remember of last night. Which was really several nights ago.

Someone touched the stray strands of hair that had managed to fall across his face and combed them back to sponge the sweat off his brow. He continued to stare up at the ceiling for awhile, not wanting to break the moment, wishing those hands wouldn't leave his face. But all too soon it was over, Saitou turned his head to the right to look at at the person that had been taking care of him.

"Tokio?"

"Guess again Mr. Wolf."

Saitou frowned as Kikyou's face came into focus. Once again he had mistaken her for his wife, and once again he felt like a fool for doing so.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Saitou grumbled and then shifted his eyes to look out the window. It was half past noon and the sunlight that streamed through the moth eaten curtains seemed hazy with dust.

Kikyou, her voice taking on an all too familiar tone, replied: "Is that anyway to say thank you? I saved your life, not once but twice."

Saitou winced. He had been saved, twice. And by this woman no less. His pride would take awhile to recover from such a blow.

Kikyou, relishing in the moment, smiled to herself and nodded her head in satisfaction. "It's been two days now, I thought you might die, so I was preparing to send you off to the underworld. But it seems wolves like you always bounce back."

Saitou glared at her. "You..." He paused.

In her current dress Kikyou looked more like a woman then a fallen priestess turned police officer. Though the checkered and faded kimono she wore was a little too small for her and had several patches in it, her porcelain face and unbound raven hair more than made up for it. In that moment, she was truly beautiful. Shining with the light of an ordinary woman off the battle field and at home.

It was much the same way that Tokio had looked. When he had been home to appreciate her appearance.

Kikyou, mistaking him pausing in mid sentence as a loss of words due to embarrassment, smiled. A small smile that only reached her lips and not her melancholy and slightly worried eyes. A smile would never reach her eyes, not anymore.

The illusion was broken.

" "You" what? What were you going to say, Mr. Wolf? How about, "thanks for taking care of me." I did help dress your wounds and I'm taking care of you even now."

Her voice, like her eyes, would forever remain cold.

Saitou snapped out of his stare and growled at her. "Helped? You're not much of a nurse."

Kikyou glared back at him and sat up straighter. When would people stop trying to pick at the little she had left, her pride and her skills. "You're lucky that doctor's daughter was here, or else I might have just decided to end your misery. Which is another thing we have to talk about. I saved your life, not once but twice, you owe me."

"And what would you like, huh, _Priestess_?" Saitou snapped at her.

Kikyou paused and thought for awhile, then she straightened her kimono and began her prepared speech. "First, I want you to stop mistaking me for you wife."

Saitou opened his mouth to object and then closed it as Kikyou raised her hand to tie back her hair with a black ribbon that she had managed to find. Her white ribbon had been burned up during the last part of the fight with the spider demoness. After putting her hair in her usual style she continued.

"Next, I would like a little of your respect and trust. We're going to have to depend on each other now. We're the only ones that can stop Naraku. If you hadn't been hurt because of me," Kikyou paused and turned her eyes away from Saitou to look at his sword which was leaning in the corner next to his bed. It was true that she had distracted him and herself that night. "then I'm sure I wouldn't have needed to save you from that last demon. You're not like the other humans out there, that's why we were paired together. Admit it, we're alike."  
Saitou sensed she had more to tell. "And anything else? Priestess?"

Kikyou turned her eyes once more to look at him. "Stop calling me "Priestess", I hate that nickname and..."

_Naraku used to call me that. _

Instead of voicing her thought Kikyou said: "And it's inappropriate."

Saitou grinned sarcastically up at her. "Then stop calling me "Mr. Wolf". You're no Red Riding Hood."

Kikyou smiled back. "I used to wear red, and I am dealing with a wolf. I'll think about that, besides, you can't make demands. I saved your life, you have to do what I tell you to do. That's how these things work."

"I wonder what would have happened if I had saved your life then..."  
"Well, we'll never know now will we."

At that moment Yoko stepped into the room. She hesitated as she saw that now the both of them were awake. Avoiding Saitou's golden gaze and Kikyou's dead one, the girl told them the news she had been ordered to tell.

"My father, the village chief, wants to speak to you Lady Kikyou. And your companion as well if he feels up to it."

Kikyou nodded her head in agreement and asked the girl a question before she could leave. "Has our clothing been repaired yet?"

The girl froze on her way out and nodded her head continuously up and down for several times. Their first meeting was still fresh in her mind. "Yes, Lady Kikyou, it has. We tired the best that we could on the minor repairs and managed to get replacements on the unrepairable garments. Sorry for the long wait."

"Thank you, I appreciate your effort. You may go now."

The girl bowed and left.

"She seems scared stiff." Saitou commented. He sat up and ignored the fading pain in his damaged shoulder, which was healing up more quickly then he had expected.

"Yes well, she seems to think I'm a ghost and you're a wolf demon. Or something like that."

"And why would she feel the need to think that?"

Both Kikyou and Saitou shared a small smile at that joke, a rare moment for the both of them. And not to be the last.

* * *

Part 13: On the Road to Tokyo

Kikyou and Saitou were brought their repaired garments. Neither of them could tell that they had been repaired. The villagers had managed to take great care to not upset the either of them. Gossip of them being a pair of demons quicken their efforts and no expense was spared for their garments.

Dressed in their uniforms, the two headed for the end of the village. A crowd of villagers and their leader were blocking the road that would evidentially lead to Tokyo. The village chief looked grave while the other's looked just plain scared.

Kikyou and Saitou stood in front of them and waited. Finally the chief spoke. "You're better I see?"

"Is that a polite way of saying: "please leave"?" Saitou asked in an annoyed tone of voice. Fear and ignorance seemed to be the only thing reflected in their eyes.

The people before them stepped back in terror. Kikyou laid a hand on Saitou's uninjured shoulder. "We'll leave. We thank you for your help. Now if you excuse us."

The crowd parted for them, but one girl still stood in the middle of the road. It was Yoko. She looked a little nervous and fearful for her life, but nevertheless she stood her ground and came toward Saitou and Kikyou.

"Um, I want to say something as well." The young girl thrust a small basket of food and emergency supplies into Kikyou's arms and let her eyes pass along the two's faces until they finally rested on the ground. "You're both police officers, you don't need to say it, but I can feel that you're after the murderer that has been terrorizing Japan recently. Not only that but I received a flier that had your face on it Lady Kikyou."

Kikyou and Saitou's faces turned even colder. Kikyou's resemblance to the victims, a fact that was still puzzling, seemed to make this case even stranger. It wasn't that all the victims looked like her, but they all at least had one of her features. Only Tokio came close to actually resembling her.

But none of the victims were completely like Kikyou, they would never have her spirit or the time to gain a spirit like hers. Kikyou swallowed a lump in her throat and defended herself. "I am not a ghost. I'm an officer of the law."

"I know that Lady Kikyou, it's just that I'm worried for you."

Saitou turned his back on the two woman, moments like this he couldn't stomach. He managed to drown his impatience in thoughts of revenge and the road ahead by the two woman talked. Turning his back on the both of them he took out a cigarette and smoked it.

"You're worried about me?" Kikyou's eyes turned soft.

"I haven't had much time to get to know you, but as much as I fear you I also feel that some part of you is good."

_But there is much darkness in you too._ These thoughts the young girl wisely decided to keep to herself.

After a short goodbye embrace, Yoko stepped aside and Saitou and Kikyou continued on their way.

Half way down the road, with the setting sun illuminating their way, Saitou finally spoke to Kikyou.

"I agree."

"Hmm?"

Saitou stopped walking and Kikyou continued for a few paces and then stopped and looked back at him. Their eyes met and held on to each other, both seemed to be burning in the light of the dying sun.

"We can only depend on each other. I guess we'll both have to agree to trust one another."

Kikyou smiled sadly. Trust was something she hadn't been able to give anyone for a long while. It hurt, yet at the same time it felt good to trust him too.

"All right, then this will be our agreement: To depend on each other. I guess that means I'm going to be saving you more often Mr. Wolf."

"Don't start that shit again!"

Kikyou laughed mockingly. "I said I would trust you, not stop calling you whatever I please. But maybe..." Kikyou looked up at the sky and then back at him. "if you can say my name just once I'll give you the respect you deserve."

Saitou stared at her for several seconds then lit one of his many cigarettes. "What a stupid request...Kikyou."

Kikyou smiled again, her eyes slightly hazy from memory of another stubborn person. She turned around to continue walking several seconds later the comforting sound of Saitou following her could be heard.

'I don't know if we'll make it, I certainly can't do another transformation like I did before. I might end up the one falling, but if so...'

Kikyou turned toward Saitou, he had managed to catch up to her. He had his eyes locked on the path in front of them and nothing else. His profile looked much like hers, both determined and saddened by the past. Possessed by revenge and the will to live through the pain of living.

'If so I know this person will catch me if I fall.'

(End of Chapter)

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I managed to include the original three parts in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. The last two parts weren't as good as the first because I didn't know what to write. I need to get back in touch with this story. I guess that's what I deserve for waiting so long to update. Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. :)

Please review.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: **Again, really sorry for the late updates. It's been what, over 7 months!? I'm really lazy. But there are also some events in my life that I had to take care of. Enough excuses.

In other news; KHST (name changed to Fairytale) is on a temporary hiatus. Chapter 12 has some serious problems I have to take care of and a side story (2 side stories) seem to be shooting out from it. One is Of Light and Darkness, a fanfic that doesn't really have anything to do with KHST and another is just some one shots dealing with life before Kikyou and Riku met and life after they met in Kingdom Hearts. These one shots won't be posted on because of some mature content and because they would interrupt the story. So you'll have to go to my website to see those. (That is if I can ever fix that site up. )

Also, has anyone noticed that my style seems more accurate and less messy when I'm dealing with ancient Japan or anything dealing with Japan's past? I guess I have too much free will when it comes to crossovers that don't deal with time lines.

If any city or street names do not match the time line of RK or Inuyasha, sorry, I didn't feel like researching.

Disclaimer: I don't own either Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin, I am just borrowing the settings and characters to make this free fan fiction. I do not claim ownership and am not payed to use these copyrighted characters in any way shape or form.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 8: Part 12: Hands in the Night 

The streets of Tokyo were full of life. The walkways crowded with all kinds of people and the merchants busy selling their wares. A sweet wind blew, filled with the lively scent of the people that filled this city and the scent of various food being displayed and cooked from both restaurants and the street vendors.

In the midst of this happy crowd stood a dark couple. The taller one inhaled from a cigarette and the shorter one looked on with scorn.  
As delicate as plucking the wings from a butterfly in motion, Kikyou swiftly took Saitou's cigarette from him and ground it into a messy pulp under her heel.

"Hey!"

" "Hey" what? Those things are poison." Kikyou replied, looking over the crowd. She was scanning it for some insight on where Naraku might be, but was having no success.

After leaving the forest village behind they had managed to get back on track, but the problem was finding Naraku. This was worse then trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

To add to their ever increasing problems, they had no money to afford an inn and darkness was soon to fall. Kikyou shrugged her shoulders as a cold wind blew. Her short skirt left her legs painfully exposed, but she had accepted this sexist outfit from her co-workers and higher ups with the same shrug and cool temperament. Without complaint she had walked here in these black heels (which were cutting into her feet) without complaint and without complaint she would deal with this problem. Especially since Saitou seemed to not care what befell them.

Ever since he's wife died he had ceased caring about anything.

Saitou glanced over at Kikyou. Hunching her shoulders against the cold, she slitted her eyes in concentration. Ever since the incident in the forest he had his doubts about her true origin. She had turned out to be a valuable partner, one he could count on, but what exactly was she?

He owed her his life, she owed him the truth.

Suddenly aware of his inquisitive eyes, Kikyou looked up at him. Her eyes held the steady wisdom of time and the warm beauty of youth, yet in them there was no warmth, no kindness for herself or others. Her features reminded him of his wife when he had first met her. In that moment when he was just another stranger to her heart.

"Saitou...?"

A rickety cart passed them, Saitou blinked and shook himself out of the trance he had been in. All those memories of a time long ago. Her features and mannerisms were like her. Yet Kikyou could not be his wife. It was with professional concern that he viewed her well being.

"Let's go."

"Wait, go where?"

Saitou lit another cigarette and looked over his shoulder at Kikyou. "I know a place."

The "place" he had in mind was a little known, and shady, boarding house in which the owner owed Saitou a favor or two.

Kikyou looked around with disgust at the tattered walls and dirty floors. She was tempted to act as a foreigner and not take off her shoes, but with her face she would never get away with it. In any case, they had no where else to go, and no other place to be. The search for Naraku had turned up empty.

Yet it wasn't only Naraku that had lead her to this place.

There was something else here, a familiar aura. A painful aura scented with flowers.  
Pain flowered on her back and Kikyou stumbled, reaching out and leaning against Saitou's back.

"What-the?"

"(gasp)(gasp)...I... I..."  
"Hey, is the lady alright?"  
Saitou looked up at the boarding house owner. He gestured impatiently at him to get a room as Kikyou fell faint into his arms.

"Kikyou. What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know. I...can't breath...(gasp)(gasp)"  
Saitou cursed and put a hand on her back, beginning to pick her up. He stopped, frozen in his tracks as underneath his hand her flesh moved. Not her shoulders, but something else. Something that slithered.  
Kikyou looked up at him, her eyes twin orbs of pain and Saitou forgot about what was under his hands or snakes slithering through the grass.

* * *

"She don't look so good."  
Saitou lit another cigarette. "Forget about that and just call the doctor whose number I gave you already."  
"I don't think she'll make it."  
With another impatient gesture he extinguished the cigarette and snapped at the spineless man before him. "Just get the damn doctor." 

"Whatever you say, she's your wife."

"_That's right, my wife," _Saitou thought. When he had first met this man he had owned a respectable inn and him and Tokio had been on honeymoon. He couldn't possibly know that this women before him was not her.

His Tokio, his tough empress.

Kikyou's harsh breathing brought Saitou out of his thoughts. Kikyou turned over on her stomach and clawed at her jacket. Saitou helped her out of it, sitting Kikyou on his knee.

"Saitou..."  
"Feeling better?"  
"Why?" Kikyou asked.

"I owe you." He did. She had saved him from a demon last time. Drained of his energy, injured, and with time against them she had saved him even though he had hurt her.  
And was still hurting her.

"_Don't compare me to your wife..."_ Kikyou's words haunting him. Of course he knew when he began to work with her that it wouldn't be easy, her resemblance to the victims was just to much to be coincidence.

And then there were her powers. Somehow, even though Saitou didn't have any proof of it, Kikyou was not human. Saitou glanced at Kikyou's pale face, her features obscured by pain were beautiful and tragic.

"I don't understand you...Wolf."  
"Don't call names now."  
He helped her out of her shoes and laid her back on the bed. She arched her back and reached for him. His hands easily caught hers in the darkness.

"I'm... Scared."  
"What?"

Kikyou mumbled something else, someone's name in her half awake/half asleep state. She cried out again and Saitou felt her forehead, leaning his forehead against hers.

She wasn't feverish. Poisoned?  
Her body wasn't something that he could understand.

She cried out and moved against him. And that sensation was back.  
Snakes through grass.

"No..." Kikyou mumbled. Her body lay still.

"Kikyou, Kikyou."  
No response.

"Kikyou!"

Saitou shook her by the shoulders, she had went limp.

A light shown at the window, thinking it was the doctor Saitou turned toward it. Twin point of light, hideously red and evil stared at him.

Eyes without depth or pupils. Impossible eyes.  
"So...," A raspy voice spoke through the window panes, a demonic voice devoid of sanity. ", so here is our little priestess. And here is her wolf!"

"You... Who are you?" Saitou reached for his sword, slowly, pulling Kikyou toward him. She mumbled something as her body was pulled into his lap. Naturally she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"kukukuku..."  
"Who are you?" Saitou repeated. Anger burning in his heart. The start of a fiery fury. Looking into those eyes, it was like he could see Tokio again, see her death and her soul burn in the netherworld.

Kikyou and himself were reflected in those eyes.

"DIE!!:

Without warning an arm shot into the room, broke the pains of the glass, and claws reached for his throat.

Saitou dodged, the demonic hand scratched him across the face. Looking for blood, it groped blindly across the bed where Saitou and Kikyou had previously been sitting. Saitou had instantly threw both Kikyou and him to the floor.

"Wherewherewherewherewhere..."

"Kikyou, dammit, this isn't the best time to rest!" Saitou hissed.

The arm threw the bed across the room, repeating its chant. Saitou slashed it with his sword, managing to cut off the thumb. The demon screamed and put in another arm to torment them.

"I'm... Scared." Kikyou mumbled in her pain induced coma.

Saitou clenched her to his chest. "Hold on a little longer."  
It was getting hard for even him to say that to himself. He tried to dodge both of them with the weight of Kikyou holding him down.

"ARGH! Damn youuuuuu!!!"  
The demonic hands became as one and thrust at him wildly. Saitou dodged and rolled into the hallway.

"Wherewherewherewherewhere..."

The hands continued their chant. Without looking back Saitou ran. Not from fear, but because his mind had broke free from the boundries of reality.

Demonic hands, demon women, it wasn't possible.

"Wherewherewherewherewhere..."

They cleared another corner and ran smack into a doctor.

"What the hell is going on here? What is all this--"  
SLICE!!

Someone started screaming and Saitou couldn't tell if it was him, Kikyou, or the demon itself.

"I found you! I found youuuuuuuuu!!!!"

Saitou ran. Leaving all else behind.

* * *

Megumi stepped outside. It cold for a spring day. Or was it fall now? The seasons passed by so quickly. 

Dinner was over and everyone else was inside. Megumi stretched and pushed her black hair back with one hand.

Such a cold day.

Suddenly there was noise at the front gate. Vicious pounding.  
Kenshin and Karou stepped outside, their arms about each other.  
"At this hour? Who could it be?"

There was a slithering noise, growing louder by the minute. A quick pause, and then the pounding again with increased intensity.

A woman's voice, low pitched and inaudible, beyond the door.

Even Sano and Yahiko stepped outside to see who it was.

Kenshin, spurred by the woman's voice, reached for the door. Megumi drew him back and grasped for the lock herself.

Instantly, as if silenced by the very moment she placed her fingers upon the door, the slithering stopped.

What awaited Megumi beyond the door were two people, one person especially, she thought she would never see again like this. And especially not with that expression

Saitou, smiled. The first actually smile they had ever seen on his face.

Kenshin hesitated before speaking. Everyone else was silent, even Yahiko. "...Saitou...?"

"Thank... God..."

The women over his shoulder muttered again. "I'm... Scared..."  
"Thank... God..."  
And then the both of them passed out at the front gate.

* * *

Part 13: Demon's Promise

* * *

When he awoke, it was sunny. Sunlight was streaming through the window. Saitou put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the light. He could only remember bits and pieces from last night. The rest was a burr. 

Kikyou passing out, eyes, and her being scared. And him? His emotions were garbled. But he remembered the feeling of safety and---

_"Wherewherewherewherewhere..."_

Saitou shivered. He couldn't remember the rest.

A hand reached out and brushed his cheek. Instinctively Saitou sat straight up and jump away from it.

"Relax. It's me."  
Megumi stared down at him with worried eyes.

"What?--"  
"That's what we'd like to know. What happened last night? And who is that women you were with?"  
"Were?"  
Megumi corrected herself, moving the blinds to allow more sunshine into the room. "You know, that women you were carrying. She's in the other room. She's been sleeping all this time. I looked her over."  
"How is she?"  
"Worried, are you?" Megumi teased. Her mouth curling up into a small smile. "What does she mean to you?"  
Saitou sat up and hopped out of bed. He grabbed his shirt and started putting it on. Megumi turned toward him, a worried expression on her face.

"Where did you get that scar?"

"I have plenty of scars. Where's Kikyou?"

Megumi turned toward him, positioning Saitou in front of a mirror. "None like that."  
In the mirror, where he had been bitten by the Spider and injured by a demon, a arachnid shaped scar blossomed.  
"What in the world...?"

It encompassed his chest, half hidden by the bandages still covering his previous wounds. The legs of the spider reached around to his back, as if embracing him into its fold.

Megumi nodded. "And, you smiled last night."  
Saitou just raised an eyebrow at this. The scar worried him more. Kikyou's words, her fear. _"I'm Scared."_ That's what she had said. Scared of what? What was ailing her?

Saitou finished putting on his shirt. He shrugged into it and buttoned it up all the way to his collar. He had a feeling that he shouldn't tell Kikyou and asked Megumi to keep her mouth shut as well.

"But why? And hey—what's going on?"  
Saitou didn't respond, he stalked out of the room and bumped into Kenshin.

"Move."  
Kenshin glared at him, and then silently bid him to follow him to where they had placed Kikyou.

* * *

Kikyou laid propped among the pillows laid behind her. She was lying on her stomach, her back causing her pain. Her naked back was as pale as the rest of her, as if she constantly lived in darkness. On one side, from her shoulder to the small of her back, fine scars like cracks on pottery appeared. They had the illusion of growth. 

Karou was by her side. She looked up as Saitou came into the room, ready to voice her opinion about him coming into a ladies room without asking, until she saw the look on Kenshin's face.

Saitou leaned over her, calling her name.

"Kikyou..."  
"Saitou..."  
It was the voice of his wife. Saitou jumped up, and in his confusion, tripped over Karou and sat down heavily besides her.

"Saitou..."  
"Impossible..."  
"Saitou?" Karou asked. The tone of the women before her frightening her. Day turned to darkness. "Saitou? Who **is** that woman?"

Kenshin placed a hand on his sword.

"Saitou... Saitou, you left me all alone."  
"Impossible..." Saitou's blood ran cold. It wasn't possible. He had saw her body. She was dead. Dead.

"Saitou?"  
Saitou finally answered her question. He croaked out. "My... wife. My... dead wife."  
Kenshin was about to reply that that was impossible when Kikyou interrupted him.

She sat up, her bare chest quivering with laughter. "Where, wherewherewherewherewhere..."

Hands groping toward him in the dark.

"Shut up."

"You left me all alone. You left me to die, didn't you?"

"Shut up."  
"Why didn't you save me? Why did you left me die, us die?"  
"Shut up..."  
"You let that man kill us. You."  
"Shut... up..."  
"You. You. You. It's _**your**_ fault. It's your fault I'm--!!"

"SHUT UP!!"

Saitou reached out and grabbed what had been Kikyou by the shoulders. He shook her until her neck snapped back against her body.

"Shut up! Do you here me, shut up!"

Sano and Megumi ran into the room. It took the combined effort of everyone, including Yahiko, to restrain him.

"You're dead! I saw you die!! Dead, do you hear me Tokio!? Dead!!"

Kikyou slumped to the floor and was still. The only sounds were Saitou's harsh breathing. Moments passed, moments passed into minutes and still no one moved. No one knew what to say about this situation, or the possibilities between this world and the next.

Was it really Tokio? Was it Kikyou? Or something else?  
Saitou stood up and left the room.

* * *

He walked. He simply walked. Kikyou was gone, or out of commission. That strange scar, the Hands, Tokio. All this didn't make any sense.  
So he walked. And his mind was clear. He came upon four graves and stared at them without really seeing them. 

He had promised. On Tokio's grave had promised to kill him. The one responsible for all this, Naraku. And now he found himself staring into a world he had never known existed and wanting to turn back.

Demons and monsters and ghosts. Priestesses and darkness that turned itself into man and started back.

It wasn't possible. Yet it was. How was he suppose to fight against something like that?

If Kikyou weer awake he could ask her. He had the feeling that she would know. But she wasn't. He was on his own.

Saitou lit a cigarette. Half expecting Kikyou's voice to come out and admonish him for smoking. Instead a man's voice came out from between the trees.

"Your scent, you have Kikyou's scent. Where is she human?"

A man stepped out on to his path. Golden eyes and Silver hair.

And his scent, his scent was of flowers.

(Chapter 8—End)

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I don't know if anyone is reading this, but thanks for reading anyway. As you can see, it's a lot different from the previous draft. I'm trying to rewrite the other chapters. But I think I'll just focus on the present. Enjoy. :) 


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: **I would like to apologize to everyone that has been waiting for me to update this or any of my other stories. There is no excuse I can give you guys for not updating and putting a bunch of my work on hiatus. I got so caught up in my life and everything that I just forgot or pushed aside my commitment to fan fiction.

Thank you everyone who has been with me so far and continuing to read this series. Special thanks go out to SadGirl91 who sent me a private message asking me if I was going to continue this. I'm going to try to finish this up and other fan fictions of mine. I have some in the works, but due to this year being a very busy year for me I won't have as much time as I want to devote to fan fiction.

Don't worry though; Darkness will defiantly be finished sometime this year.

Disclaimer: I don't own either Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin; I am just borrowing the settings and characters to make this free fan fiction. I do not claim ownership and am not paid to use these copyrighted characters in any way shape or form.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 9: Part 14: Lover's Song

"Your scent, you have Kikyou's scent. Where is she, human?"

Saitou simply stared at the man with the golden eyes, his pack of cigarettes still in his hand. Dead leaves scattered across their path and all went still around them. Still he did not answer.

His voice reminded him of Kikyou. Cold and impassive, it had the hint of an eternal winter. To call this stranger anything other than beautiful would be a sin, and yet...

"My lord asked you a question, human!"

...He didn't need the thing behind him to tell him that this beautiful youth before him wasn't human, or young, his eyes told the true story of his origins.

Ignoring the little toad demon behind him, Saitou casually lit up another cigarette. Toad demons, spiders, and demonic hands, oh my. What was he getting himself into?

"Who wants to know?"  
The toad burst into a string of curses and swung his staff wildly. Heat gathered behind him, supposedly from some enchantment of the demon servant, but Saitou paid it no mind. The world existed for him and the man before.

"Why don't you piss off if you don't have anything to say? Or maybe you want a cigarette?"

"Why you—!"

Saitou turned around and blew smoke into the green demon's face before he could use his flamethrower like staff. "Thanks for the light."  
"Argh!"

"That's enough, Jaken."

The thing had attempted to jump on him, but his master's command stopped him. The first demon stepped forward, his eyes weighing Saitou's power, and maybe, his very soul.

"I see. You're not like other humans. A warrior or a lord like myself perhaps? No wonder Kikyou chooses to stay with you and not me."

Something in his last sentence bothered him, touched a sensitive spot. Was he implying that him and Kikyou...?

"We're not lovers. And I don't take kindly to men who give strange compliments and claim to know me. Or come out of the middle of nowhere and demand things of me. Who are you?"

"Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West."

A demon lord? Interesting. What else existed that Saitou didn't know about?

"Go back to where you came from. I have no business with you." Saitou turned his back on Sesshoumaru, and again Sesshoumaru's minion Jaken attempted to stop him.

"Impertinent human! You know not who you talk to! Lord Sesshoumaru, I humbly request to destroy this mortal!"

"No."  
"But, Lord Sesshoumaru—!" Jaken pleaded, but one stern look from Sesshoumaru shut him up.

"Human..."  
"Saitou."  
"Saitou. Business between a wife and her husband concerns only them, no outsiders are allowed to interfere despite their connections."

Husband!? Saitou was at a loss for words. Kikyou married? How was that possible? Why hadn't she mentioned something to him?

But then again, they weren't lovers. And they certainly weren't friends. Why would she, when she had no connection to him? He was a stranger in her heart.

Sensing his unease, Sesshoumaru clarified their relationship. "Kikyou is my ex-wife, actually. At least in the human world. But this is no longer the human world."  
"What do you mean?" His words filled Saitou with further dread.

"I have come to speak to Kikyou, not you."  
Saitou flicked away his cigarette angrily. "Well, Kikyou's indisposed for the moment. Anything you have to say to her you'll have to say to me. We're partners."  
"Partners..." Sesshoumaru, in a rare bout of emotion, narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Yes, partners. As in, officers of the law."  
Another surprise, Sesshoumaru laughed. As chilling as his voice was his laughter was even more frightening, at least it would have been to anyone else but Saitou.

"The law, human law?"  
Jaken joined in on the joke, but was soon silenced by a threatening gesture by Sesshoumaru. The toad demon then made himself scarce.

"Your law no longer applies here." There was ice in his voice once again. But Saitou was immune to threats.

"And this is not your world."

"What has happened to Kikyou?"

"I don't know," Saitou replied. He turned away from Sesshoumaru. He didn't know. Not really. He didn't know what was happening to himself for that matter.

"Take me to her." This time there was no ice, and no threats, something in his voice made Saitou give in.

It was like looking at himself years ago. Married to a woman he loved, but at the same time almost never saw. A woman who technically is more of an acquaintance if not for the memories that they shared and their feelings. Comparing Kikyou and Sesshoumaru to himself, Saitou couldn't stand in their way. If he had spent more time with Tokio...

"All right. I'll take you to her."

...But that was in the past. And despite his forbidding, Kikyou was not his love.

* * *

"Well, I wonder where that old man is. He sure is late. He was supposed to pick up the girls half an hour ago."

Kenshin gazed off into the distance, thinking about everything he had seen till now. The dead coming back to life? He almost would not believe it if not for the strange feeling in the air. Like the calm before the storm or electric static before lightning strikes.

"I feel that our time of peace is almost at an end."  
Karou reached for him, but was stopped by the girls at her side.

"Kenshin!" The two little girls that Karou and Kenshin helped to take care of cried at the same time.  
Karou smiled. "Well, I know when I'm not needed."

* * *

Kikyou was drifting on the waves of some calm ocean. For the first time in ages there was peace. Memories floated by. They were memories of her time with Inuyasha. Before...

Before she had been created like this. Before someone had brought her back. Again.

Someone that looked like her. Someone who she was drawn to, yet repulsed by. Someone who she had to protect. Because there was only them now.  
Yes, why didn't she see it before? The final peace of the puzzle. The only other person that had a piece of her soul.

And the one who was responsible for everything. For making her into a monster.

Kagome.

...That was when Kikyou woke up. She sat up and hissed at the pain in her back. The old scar of betrayal ached. She was naked from the waist down. The white sheet, even whiter against her skin, was pooled around her waist and exposed her naked breasts. Using the sheet like a toga, Kikyou searched for her things.

Here was her bow, her clothing, and her arrows as well. Everything was in its place. Where ever this place was.

Laughter from the courtyard distracted her before she could search the strange building she was in. All around her was the smell of flowers. And Saitou's scent too.

Saitou's scent... There was something else mixed with it. Something in it that seemed off and reminded her of someone, someone familiar.

Again, laughter distracted her. Such familiar laughter, it was a young child's.

Kikyou exited her room and turned around a corner when ran smack into a little girl.

"Sorry miss!" The girl squeaked as her sister came running after her, narrowly avoiding the same mistake her sister had made.

Kikyou looked down at the child that had run in to her. She looked so much like Rin. But that was impossible, Rin was dead. She had died of old age. Kikyou and Sesshoumaru had watched her die.

That was what happened when you loved an immortal. When you yourself could never die the humans that you loved die and leave you behind.  
"So, I see you're awake."  
Kikyou shifted her eyes from the little girl and looked up at the redhead before her. A man, yet his aura was gentle. But something lurked underneath. His violet eyes held surprise and warmth, and strangely sadness. His voice was cautious, as if she were a bomb waiting to explode.

But the woman behind him was fearful. What had happened while she had been asleep?

Kikyou held out her hand, in the western way of greeting to substitute for the Japanese version due to the child in her arms. "I'm Kikyou. I'm sorry if I have caused you any trouble. Where is my partner, Saitou?"  
"Partner?"

"We're working on a case together."  
Finally something other than fear in the woman and caution from him, the two glanced at each other before answering Kikyou. "Partner? Women can become police officers?"  
Kikyou answered the woman's question. "Not officially... I'm sorry; I didn't get your name."

* * *

Saitou didn't like it, didn't like the fact that he had to escort a demon to Kikyou. However, if he didn't he would have to fight this "Lord Sesshoumaru." Not that he shied away from a fight, but with his injured state it wouldn't be wise. And, more importantly, he wanted to know more about Kikyou and Sesshoumaru's relationship.

Saitou also didn't trust Sesshoumaru either. It seemed more than just a little strange that after the events of last night a demon lord would come out of nowhere and declare that Kikyou is his, or was his.

Saitou growled as they finally came within sight of the dojo. Kikyou was his responsibility and he would be damned if he put her in danger.

As if sensing his thoughts, Sesshoumaru turned and smirked at him.

Saitou almost spat out his cigarette, so disgusted he was at himself for letting Sesshoumaru get to him. Damn pretty boy, he even grinned pretty. Compared to him Saitou was a rough and wild wolf next to a beautiful and unclimbable mountain.

The demon and the wolf glared at each other as Jaken knocked upon the gate with his staff.

At that instant, breaking up their staring contest, Ayame and Suzume rushed past the trio, knocking Jaken down in the progress. The little girls bumped into Saitou and Sesshoumaru's legs, apologized, and then ran past them toward an old man who was calling for them at the end of the lane.

Saitou looked to Sesshoumaru to judge his reaction; mysteriously he had a small smile on his face as if remembering a pleasant memory.

Saitou followed Sesshoumaru's gaze to the two little girls with their elderly caretaker. Tokio had wanted a boy and a girl. The memory of her in life, the two girls, and the memory of her body and their child's stirred in Saitou's mind, twisting together and causing him agony.

"S...Sesshoumaru?" Kikyou's voice broke the both of them out of a trance. Saitou, grateful for a distraction, turned toward Kikyou just in time to see Sesshoumaru grab her by the arm and pull her to his chest.

Kikyou repeated his name, her face a mask of anguish, anger, and joy. Saitou watching the two former lovers was, strangely, more jealous than anything else. His feelings of jealously and envy were stronger than his astonishment that Kikyou had shown such powerful emotions towards a demon, even if he had been her husband.

Saitou tried to explain it away, thinking it had to be because of her resemblance to Tokio. Still, the feeling would not leave him as he watched Kikyou return Sesshoumaru's embrace.

Suddenly Kenshin and Karou intruded on the scene.

"Who is this, and this?" Kenshin asked innocently as he inclined his head first toward Sesshoumaru and then toward the small demon impaled on his sword.

Kikyou pulled away from Sesshoumaru, staring directly into Saitou's eyes as she said, "We need to talk. All of us."

* * *

The door closed behind them with finality as Kikyou finally confronted Sesshoumaru. Alone. Above them two love birds conversed with each other in their cage, a gift from a former student of Karou who breed them. Two lovers who death could not even separate, so strong was the birds' bond that if one died the other would follow. Before the thought that their bound was as strong would have comforted Kikyou, now it brought only pain.

"Why are you here?" Kikyou hissed as she closed the gate to the garden behind them. Kenshin had been kind enough to usher everyone inside for a late lunch. Saitou hadn't wanted to leave, but Kikyou made him after she promised him she would explain everything. Even Jaken, who Sesshoumaru had revived, left them alone.

"Looking for you," Sesshoumaru answered. He stood before her, impassive as always. Kikyou didn't know whether she wanted to wring his neck, kiss him, or walk away. No matter how much she denied her feelings, a part of her would always love him. Just like a part of her would always love Inuyasha.

"Well, you found me. I'm busy, so unless this has something to do with Naraku I suggest you leave. I'm not going back to the west with you. I can't be your wife."

For once emotion flitted across Sesshoumaru's face. "I know. I did not come here for that."

Kikyou breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there she thought Sesshoumaru was going to drag her away by force. However, Sesshoumaru was never known to give up anything he wanted, if he came to see her about something else whatever he wanted must be serious.

"What is it then?" Kikyou asked as she gestured for Sesshoumaru to sit down besides her on the porch.

"Naraku, he is alive once more."

Kikyou's whole body went stiff with tension then relaxed. "I already know that. I'm here in Edo to kill him."

"Then do you know that he has become a full demon."

Kikyou stood up as if Sesshoumaru had struck her. "Impossible!" Kikyou shouted, not even bothering to keep her voice down. Even the birds in the cage stopped singing as Kikyou released the full force of her hatred, her voice dripped with venom as she drilled Sesshoumaru for details. "How? When? Why!"

Sesshoumaru stood up, wisely keeping his distance as Kikyou paced like a caged panther. "I don't know. But I do know that you can not stop him."

Kikyou let out a dry laugh. "Can't stop him? You forget I am no longer one of the dead either. I have been resurrected as a monster."

Sesshoumaru placed his hands on Kikyou; the scar where his arm had once been cut off by Inuyasha was still visible, just like the scar Kikyou carried on her back would always be there. "You are beautiful, powerful and wise. But do not be foolish. Even with the body you have been given you are not a demon. Not a full one."

Kikyou looked up at Sesshoumaru, her hatred draining away from her as she stared into Sesshoumaru's golden eyes. "I'm not a full demon. I don't even know if I am a demon or a vengeful ghost. But I do know that I can't live my life like Naraku doesn't exist. Don't ask me to give up my pursuit of him. I can't."

Sesshoumaru nodded his head and pulled Kikyou closer to him before she could pull away. "I understand. But, whether you admit it or not, you are my mate. I will not let you go. Not for Naraku or any other human that would seek to claim you."

Kikyou leaned against Sesshoumaru. She knew very well what Sesshoumaru meant by "any other human" just like she knew that Saitou was watching; even now trying to guess the relationship between them. Thinking of Saitou, Kikyou couldn't help but wonder if the feelings that he had for his wife were as strong as the feelings Sesshoumaru held toward her. If so it was no wonder that Saitou had a hard time letting go of the memory of Tokio and it was no wonder that Sesshoumaru couldn't let go of the past. When they were happy, before Rin died, Kikyou would have given everything, even her very soul, to be with Sesshoumaru forever. But Rin's death and Naraku's awaking wouldn't let her rest.

"I have to kill Naraku. I was content to let things be as long as Rin was alive. But that was selfish. I ignored Naraku for so long so I could stay with you and Rin. I never thought about the consequences, that if I'm alive then Naraku must be alive too. I wanted to be with you so much, I loved you too much. But there is nothing in my heart now but revenge. I can't let others suffer the same fate that I suffered!"

Sesshoumaru squeezed Kikyou to his chest, almost crushing her. Kikyou could feel Sesshoumaru struggling with himself to let her go. When he finally did speak his words came out in a whisper, "What about my suffering? What do these mortals have to do with you?"

Kikyou was about to reply when she looked up and saw a haunted look in Sesshoumaru's eyes. The same look that Saitou had when he gazed upon her, seeing Tokio. At that moment all she could think of was what both men had lost, what Saitou had lost forever. She was still alive, but Tokio was gone forever. Saitou's suffering had no end. Just like the suffering of all the love ones of the women who Kikyou saw as extensions of herself, parts of her soul that had been reincarnated before her resurrection.

"I can't. I can't be with you," Kikyou said, trying to hold back a sob that caught in her throat. She wanted to stay! A part of her wanted to run away from it all, but she couldn't. The suffering of others was too hard to ignore. The suffering of Saitou was too hard to ignore.

Saitou, why was she thinking of him at a time like this? Was it because he was a victim of Naraku's cruelty or something more? Even as she clung to Sesshoumaru a part of her was acutely aware of Saitou turning and walking away from them.

Kikyou felt rather than saw Sesshoumaru pull away from her. As the light of hope when out of his eyes Kikyou knew that any hope of her and Sesshoumaru ever being together again went with it.

"Then I leave you to your fate, "Sesshoumaru said before leaving her. As an after thought, he said over his shoulder, "But you should know that Kagome is still alive too. And she is looking for you as well. You are not the only one that wishes to kill Naraku."

And then he was gone, leaving only the birds in their gilded cage to sing of love.

Part 15: Between You & Me

Saitou strode down the empty hallways of Karou's dojo and the home of his former rival, Kenshin. Rival was the best word that could describe their often turbulent and bloody history. However, it wasn't Kenshin Saitou was thinking of. Kikyou's explanation of what had happened last night was that they were set upon by thieves in the night and both her and Saitou's delirious state of fear was due to hallucinations from being poisoned. This explained Kikyou's weird behavior upon waking up, when she had been in "trance," and their sudden appearance to Karou, Kenshin, Megumi and the rest. Thankfully they all believed Kikyou or if they didn't believe her they were wise enough to keep their opinions to themselves.

To Saitou though, Kikyou still hadn't given him the truth. And that bothered him more than anything. Lying he could take, lying to your partner who your life depended on in a life or death situation was another thing entirely.

Plus, what about her mysterious husband that appeared out of nowhere? Saitou hadn't heard all of their conversation, he had walked in on the end, but still it seemed strange that Kikyou was so devoted to killing Naraku just because strangers that looked like her had been killed. There were also the unanswered questions of what had happened when Saitou had been attacked by the spider demon back in the woods. Kikyou defeated it, yes, but how? Saitou could only remember bits and pieces of what happened to him. He remembered seducing Kikyou, trying to slip underneath the emotionless mask she wore, being attacked, getting lost in the forest with Kikyou, and then snapping at her about it being her fault for them being lost before he fell off a cliff. After that his memories were a tangle of sensations of pain and pleasure, incoherent voices, and pain—enough pain that he couldn't even open his eyes or think straight at the time, even remembering it made his shoulder ache.

Two memories stood out crystal clear: the feeling of silken strands wrapping around his limbs, the dry cackle of the demon that held him in her as she played with his body. Saitou was ashamed to admit to himself that he had enjoyed her attentions. It was the ecstasy she gave him that kept him beyond the brink of madness from his wounds. He remembered her biting him, licking him, and his scarred body grew warm at the memory of where she had bitten him.

The second memory was of Kikyou standing over the demon, triumphant yet encased in shadows. His sword was the only thing that stood out in the darkness surrounding her and identified her as Kikyou. Yet Saitou swore that the Kikyou then was a different person from the Kikyou he knew. Then she had been a woman so powerful even Saitou would think twice before facing her. She more than rivaled Saitou or Kenshin in power, yet the Kikyou he knew was a fairly strong woman but not strong enough to be considered a demon. Maybe his memories were playing tricks on him because Saitou could have sworn then that she **was** a demon then.

The only other memories after those were waking up in a village with Kikyou at his side. He was on the road to recovery and the strange spider shaped scar on his body now was not present then. Yet scar tissue couldn't form over night.

Saitou stopped walking and cradled his head in his hands. There was either a big chunk of his memory missing or someone was playing a trick on him. He wanted answers, even if it meant he had to beat someone to a bloody pulp to get them. Saitou had the distinct feeling that someone was playing games with him. Someone, somewhere, was laughing at his efforts. Maybe Sesshoumaru was right and this is a demon's world now. How could a human beat a demon at his own game?

Tonight was a new moon, and the house was quiet and still as Saitou advanced down the hallway. To his left and right occupied bedrooms echoed with the quiet snores and sighs of their occupants. He had walked in a full circle, going throughout the complex before coming back to where he had started. Ahead, in one tiny room separated from the others, candle light lit up the paper screen. A woman's kneeling shadow could be seen. Was that Kikyou?

His heart beat faster at the thought, just the person Saitou wanted to see. Stealthily Saitou walked toward Kikyou's room till he stood outside of her door. As usual, wherever Kikyou was the shadows seemed longer and darker than anywhere else, as if marking the border between one world and another. Kikyou was chanting something, praying? Saitou leaned in closer to hear her only to hear his own name on her lips.

"Saitou, I knew you would come."

Saitou leaned back as Kikyou sat up and walked toward him. However, she did not open her door and instead stood outside of it. Unable to see her but able to hear her voice, Saitou said nothing and silence stretched between them until Kikyou spoke again, "What is it you want from me?"

"Well, you could start by telling me who the hell Sesshoumaru is."

Damn, he hadn't wanted to say that. He had wanted to ask her about what had really happened when she saved his life, what was with all the demons chasing them, and who or what was Naraku; instead Saitou sounded like a jealous lover confronting his mistress. Saitou was actually grateful Kikyou couldn't see his face right now.

Kikyou sounded amused as she said, "Who do you think he is?"

"Dammit woman! Why does everything have to be a riddle with you?" Saitou shouted, not caring if the whole household woke up. Kikyou was the only woman besides his wife who could ignite emotions in him.

Kikyou chuckled, "I guess old habits die hard. As a priestess, I never gave straight answers because if I was wrong it would hurt those I'm meant to protect."

"You can't hurt me," Saitou muttered, this time aware of both his emotions and the slumber of those around them. "Why don't you just tell me the truth?"

"All right. Sesshoumaru is the man I loved. He was the first person to accept me as I am and the only man who never betrayed my trust or ran off with another. However," Kikyou once more laughed, only this time it sounded like dry humor as she continued to speak. "I suppose running off with a woman that looks just like you is not considered deceit."

Saitou was at a lost for words at Kikyou confession. For the first time he could hear emotion seeping into Kikyou's words as she talked about Sesshoumaru. To Kikyou, were all men either put on this earth to hurt her or capture her heart either by force or persuasion? If love could be considered the act of invasion, the taking of another's heart, then what was hate?

Saitou leaned against the wall, next to the thin screen door separating him and Kikyou. The wind came through an open window to fill the void between them, stirring the flame of the sole light there was. Kikyou's candle almost went out before it spurted back to life as Kikyou also leaned against the wall. Saitou could feel her warmth against his back, through the stiff paper, as Kikyou sighed and rested her head where Saitou's shoulder would be if she were with him.

"I can hurt you Saitou. You just don't realize how close to hurting you I am."

Saitou listened to her words, looking down to where his sword was locked around his waist. Would the time come when he would ever have to fight Kikyou?

"Didn't I already say it? You can't hurt me, priestess."

Kikyou smiled wryly. "Is that a fact, wolf?"

"Yeah," Saitou said gruffly. "So get used to it because I'm not going anywhere. You'd have to kill me in order to keep me from sticking by your side until Naraku is dead. I will get my revenge."

"Until Naraku is vanquished…Until you wife's spirit is appeased…" Kikyou said to herself before speaking to Saitou. "Is there no way to change your mind? You can still live the normal life of a human."

"Are you looking down on me because I am human? If I say I'm going, I'm going." Saitou argued.

"So be it," Kikyou spoke with the finality of someone reading someone else's last rights "Tomorrow we will leave this place and search for Naraku. He will not leave here without the opportunity to kill again. I can feel it."

Saitou stood up and separated himself from Kikyou. "Then let's get some sleep." He still had plenty of questions but he could tell that now wouldn't be the time. Besides, a part of him was reluctant to tell Kikyou about his scar.

"Saitou?" Kikyou asked before he could leave.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Saitou didn't reply and waited until Kikyou blew out her candle before he left. Saitou never noticed that Kikyou was the one watching over him as he returned to his room. Kikyou smiled sadly and closed her door, satisfied that Saitou was safe. She then looked up at where the moon would be, days from now if she lived to see it.

"Naraku, do you even understand the sorrow of those you have hurt? The never-ending pain and hatred born from your perverted desire to have me? Saitou, you don't know that it is I that killed your wife and not Naraku. I killed her by not having the strength to stop him mysel. From being a naïve girl who saved a stranger by the river bank. Would you hate me, Saitou, if I admitted that I'm almost glad that Naraku exists if it means I can stay by your side? Your presence is the one comfort I have now."

The wind stirred once more, carrying the scent of madness and death, blood and the lust for flesh. Somewhere, a demon was watching with glee.

"Saitou, I don't want to hurt you…" Kikyou whispered, thinking of Sesshoumaru who she had hurt in her quest for revenge. "But I won't stop myself if it means making the choice between killing Naraku and killing you."

**Author's Notes:** I really liked the imagery I used in this chapter in the scenes between Kikyou and Sesshoumaru and Kikyou and Saitou. I kind of thought the wind thing was cheesy, but I left it in because of all the bizarre weather I've been experiencing lately and because it cuts in at scenes where there is a shift between the emotions or the mood between the characters. At this point I would like to question the readers, does anyone think Kikyou knows about Saitou and the significance of his scar? For those that are avid Inuyasha fans or have seen the series before the importance of his scar should be obvious.

Also, I'd like to apologize in advance for anyone that was expecting more characters from Rurouni Kenshin to appear or more themes from that show. It's been a very long time since I watched that show. The only reason why I think I'm doing okay writing about Saitou is because he is my favorite character from the anime.

Furthermore, Kikyou saying "Edo" instead of "Tokyo" is not a mistake. I believe The Warring States Period is before the time period this story takes place in. As stated in Rurouni Kenshin (in one episode at the beginning I think) Tokyo was not always the capital of Japan and it was not always named Tokyo. Edo is the old name for Tokyo. I'm not going to go in-depth on history since it really is not important for this story. So if I have a fact wrong or something don't go crazy on me. Considering that both Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha aren't noted for their historical correctness as much as their complicated relationships between characters it doesn't matter.

Look forward to the next chapter, but I'm not going to make any promises on when it will appear. Thank you for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes:** Shush, don't tell my professors I'm working on fan fiction. (lol) Sorry for the long wait. Thank you SadGirl91 for support and sorry this chapter is past the due date I promised.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 10: Part 16: Doppelganger

It was the moon. It was so lovely that couples strolled along the river and children played outside past their bedtime. Old men talked about crops, gossiped about their neighbors just like their wives, and accused each other of cheating while playing shogi or mahjong. Families looked at the moon together, holding their young close and keeping a watchful eye on their older children.

After all, who knew what dangers lurked in the dark? The stronger the light the darker the shadow.

Right then, no one knew that better than one young woman rushing through back alleys, desperately trying to escape what shouldn't exist.

Her red and white robes betrayed her as a priestess. Far away from her temple, she had probably been lured here by the moon or the temptation of wanting to escape from the rules of the temple. She was young, in her late teens, a woman still a girl. Priestess or not, her tears and her screams would have evoked anyone to protect her.

Anyone but what was chasing her.

"Help me!" she screamed, almost tripping as her sandal broke. She regained her footing and ran, pounding and pleading on each door she encountered. But this wasn't the part of town where anyone opened their doors, even for a priestess.

"Please, someone help me!"

No help came, and the inhuman man behind her chuckled. He laughed at her plight as her big brown eyes searched futilely in the moonlight for someone to help her. Sobbing, she looked over her shoulder once, before she redoubled her efforts to escape. Ducking into an abandoned courtyard, she pounded on the broken shutters, this time seeking to break them.

"Help me! Helppppp!" Her last scream came out a long shriek as talons ripped in to her back from her left shoulder to her right hip. She reached out, in shock, one hand outstretched toward the shutter before her, before she fell to the overgrown grass with a thud. Still trying to get away, she crawled on her hands and knees, trying to find an opening. Cruelly, the beast behind her yanked her back to the grass and the indifferent moonlight.

"There, that's where you should be priestess. Cry for me. Cry," its voice was like velvet, caressing the night in a throaty male purr of satisfaction. It was moved at her suffering, aroused at the sight of her blood. It wanted more.

"No…Please no…"

It crouched over her, the light behind it blocking out its face. It didn't matter, if she hadn't seen it before she saw it now. Saw it for what it really was. Like an insect, it cocked its head at her entreaties before digging his claws into her back, right above her hip. She screamed as his claws destroyed her entrails. Blood bubbled up from her mouth; she wasn't even screaming any more so much as making sounds that no human throat should utter.

It pulled something out and bit it, offended by the taste it spit it out and threw it away.

"I guess you wouldn't have that jewel inside you, would you? Doesn't matter," It practically sang. "She does, she always will. I take it away and it comes back, as pretty as ever sparkling and glittering in my hand. Always in my hand."

It nuzzled her neck after yanking her head back by her hair. The girl was in so much agony that pleasure and pain made no difference to her psych. He licked along her neck, shoulder, her lips, before slitting her throat with his thumb, like someone would peel an apple with a knife. As her blood spilled out of her body and the light of life vanished forever from her eyes it did three things:

Tied her hair into a pony tail with a white ribbon, making sure to leave two loops of hair to dangle on her shoulders.

And turned her over on to her back. Split open her stomach and womb, and deposited a wet, pink mass of flesh that didn't belong to her body.

Then it knelt between her thighs, caressing them before using the same thumb it had used to slit her throat to carve one word in to her skin while it was still warm.

It stood there, satisfied with his work but lust still raging throughout his veins. It wanted her, his priestess, his real priestess. And oh how she would cry out for his touch, how she would beg him when he spilled her blood and tore her infuriating arrogance and holy power away from her. Even as a fallen angel she still held enough of heaven within her veins to deny him. It would taste her blood and body just like it had her copies, rip from her body her insides, tear her from limb to limb and still never get enough of her to sedate its hunger for her.

"Oh," It moaned up at the moon, the cold, unforgiving moon that acted as a witness to all his atrocities against man. "Kikyou, Kikyou! Come to me!"

It was the moon, nothing but the moon that could have watched it fly in to the night without feeling the taint of madness and horror from its deeds it left behind. Only the moon that could have stayed behind and watched the girl as her soul fled her body, never to return.

)(

It was dawn by the time the body was discovered. Kikyou and Saitou stepped carefully over the garbage and trash in their way, able to see the girl's path long before they saw her broken sandal or her final resting place. The stench rising from the streets and the ragged appearance of the onlookers all suggested people used to finding unpleasant surprises in the morning, and from the empty eyes of a few women that they saw there were a lot of nasty business that was conducted in all hours of the morning even though the pleasure district was no where near here.

Kikyou cursed as she almost lost her balance, one of her unpractical high heels almost making her crash to the pavement. Below her was a puddle of fowl water that, thankfully, her training allowed her to avoid and side step with grace. Only Saitou's careful eye noticed that she tripped.

"Heh."

"Is this funny to you?" Kikyou snapped. "We're on our way to view another woman's body, another woman that Naraku killed, and you're laughing?"

"Of course it's not funny, what is though is that you continue to trip around in those foreigners' shoes."

Kikyou shot a glare at Saitou as one of the Tokyo detectives, the one that had tipped them off to the discovery of the body, waved them over to a rotting building. At one time it had been someone's home. A wealthy person from the looks of it, but time change and its decaying wood betrayed its age and how forlorn it had become.

"After this," Kikyou said. "You can buy me new shoes if I'm so amusing." After glaring once more, Kikyou walked ahead of Saitou. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him. Something had been nagging her all night, in the back of her brain some alarm went off and wouldn't turn off. It was less than twenty-four hours after she had talked to Sesshoumaru and entered this city and already, within a day, she wanted to turn around and go home. But she couldn't, Kikyou's pride wouldn't let her. She couldn't run away, not now. Not ever.

This last thought, of not being able to run away, was in Kikyou's head as she was finally within hand shake distance of the detective they were about to meet. Another set of warning bells went off in her head when, after one look at her, the detective blanched and stepped back as if he had seen a ghost. Another officer exited the building, a notebook in his hand which he dropped when he saw Kikyou. While still doing a double take between Kikyou and the entrance to the scene of the crime, a doctor sent to examine the body before the undertaker was also taken aback. (see author's notes)

"Impossible," the old man stuttered, almost dropping his black medical bag as he too turned around and stared from the body of the woman he had just finished examining to Kikyou.

"What's going on here?" Saitou asked, finally reaching Kikyou. Kikyou, surprised by this turn of events herself, turned around at Saitou's question.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Maybe it's better if you take a look at the body," regaining his composure officer Kenji, Saitou's contact while in Tokyo, said. Taking a deep breath and avoiding Kikyou's eyes, he led them inside the courtyard of the abandoned residence before them.

The building was tall and the sun was still on the horizon. The courtyard, with its decaying trees, overgrown grass, and broken shutters looked haunted. No one was there besides a few officers guarding the scene and one other person drawing the scene of the crime for records. Any evidence had already been collected but the girl's body lay where it had been found, the body untouched. There was a sacred air about it, like entering a church or a shrine. Something holy and not to be disturbed. But there was also the sense of wrongness, something that didn't fit. And as the shadows dispersed around the body in the middle that was cloaked, tactfully, with a white cloth no one spoke, and around Kikyou and Saitou an unbearable silence grew.

Unable to take it any longer, Kikyou stepped forward and removed the sheet, exposing what was left of the girl to plain view.

It couldn't even be called a girl any longer. It was someone dead, Kikyou knew that. But it was also a face that she had seen before, a face that was youthful and innocent and sad all at once.

It was her face. The face she had had a thousand years ago, when she had been human. And the face she still wore.

The silence stretched, no one spoke. Saitou stepped forward to grasp Kikyou's shoulder. Pull her away or offer comfort, but Kikyou pulled away. Angrily, she removed the rest of the sheet and exposed the girl's chest and abdomen.

Saitou didn't need light to see what was placed in the middle of the tattered remains of the girl's belly. It wasn't human, he knew that, but seeing the newborn flesh of a dog instead of a baby didn't make things better but worse somehow. The animal looked like it had been ripped out of the stomach of the dog that bore it. Two lives snatched away before they ever got to live. Someone, a scientist probably, had said that everyone looked the same inside the womb. He was right. Saitou couldn't tell the difference between this and his own child except the word "dog" had been carved into the woman's inner thigh.

"Wolf." Kikyou broke the silence, spitting out her nickname for Saitou savagely. "That's what is says, wolf."

Saitou saw that she was right as he bent closer, brushing away some of the gore to see the letters for what they were.

Something inside him was broken; he had known it when Tokio died. There had been so much pain and anger then but strangely he didn't feel anything now. It was as if a part of him had died or suffered so much that even Naraku's senseless cruelty couldn't harm him. If this was how he wanted to do things, taunt them with their own helplessness, then he would be sure to repay the favor.

Saitou glanced at Kikyou. She looked the same that she always did; only the tension in her shoulders and back gave any indication that she was emotionally moved by seeing the body of her double. Even Saitou couldn't see how the tension hid pain, pain that blossomed from the echoes of the screams in her head of outrage and the memory of past torments that Naraku had caused her. Especially the one that had taken away her life and which was mirrored in this girl's death, Kikyou noticed as she too knelt besides the body and examined the blood stains leaking from underneath. Like Saitou, Kikyou didn't care about her hands as she traced the girl's wounds and lingered over the hole ripped in her side. She didn't need to look at the piece of flesh Naraku had ripped out to see why he had inflicted this unnecessary wound on the girl.

"It's not only me…" Kikyou muttered. "Sesshoumaru was right, Kagome is here."

"Kagome?" Saitou asked, for the first time looking away from the sight in front of him.

"My other self."

Part 17: If You Exist

"What do you mean, "Your other self?" Saitou asked as he sipped at his tea. After the startling, to say the least, incident of this morning and after taking care of the necessary paper work him and Kikyou and retired to an affordable restaurant for breakfast. Kikyou bared touched her food, but Saitou was ravenous.

Normally, seeing a woman's body that looked like a younger version of your wife split open before you with a dog fetus placed inside of it would destroy the appetite of anyone, but Saitou couldn't help himself. He hadn't had anything to eat since they had left for the road to Tokyo and he needed to do something, anything to distract himself. Given the proper space and time, he would vent. But right now it was Kikyou that needed the distraction.

Her face didn't betray her emotions at all, but her bad posture as she sat before him and the faraway look in her eyes betrayed an inner torment.

"It's just like him to do this to me. And here I thought I had escaped both him and that girl…" Kikyou said to herself, looking at a space over Saitou's shoulder. If Saitou was hungry, Kikyou was tired and mentally exhausted. It had taken everything she had to stand her ground. Naraku was watching her, and she wouldn't let any weakness show.

"…Let's take a walk." Saitou suggested, pulling Kikyou up from the table and paying for their food. It wasn't the season for cherry blossoms, but he took her to the park anyway. Dragging her over lane after lane of leafless trees Saitou didn't even realize himself that the same path he was taking with Kikyou was the one he had taken long ago with Tokio.

Kikyou allowed herself to be dragged along, looking at Saitou's back instead of the scenery. Suddenly Kikyou's heel broke and the both of them were brought to a stop, Kikyou crashing into Saitou as she tried to regain her balance.

Sighing, Saitou turned around to confront Kikyou.

"Tell me who you are."

Taken by surprise by Saitou's demand, Kikyou stood awkwardly before him, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "…There's nothing to tell."

"Bullshit. Stop planning games with me."

Suddenly Kikyou turned on him. "Games? I'm not the one that keeps thinking about his dead wife! Doesn't it bother you? You stand there and tell me it doesn't anger you, upset you, that you're talking to the woman responsible for the murder of your wife, that I look just like her, and that you just saw—"

"Enough!"

"No!" Kikyou shouted as she ripped the heel off her other shoe and throw it at Saitou. It bounced off his shoulder and landed at the pound besides them. People passed by, lingering to look at an argument between what looked like lovers to them.

"No, **I've** had enough. I can't do this anymore. Not with you." Kikyou said, taking off her heels and trying to walk past Saitou. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

Before she could pass by him completely, Saitou reached out and grabbed Kikyou's arm. It was a subconscious move on his part, he wasn't even aware of himself doing it until his hand was on her arm, gripping it tightly.

"Tell me who you are," each of the words he pronounced came off chipped, bitten off in a hiss of rage and tightly wound desire. Even as he hated her, even as he denied the words she said, some part of him was still drawn to Kikyou and in too deep to leave her alone.

Kikyou stared at the hand that connected her to Saitou. "Let go."

"Tell me who you are," Saitou repeated.

Kikyou grasped Saitou's wrist, her fingers wrapping around his hand with enough strength to break it. She hadn't shown this much power since the night she had saved his life. In one smooth motion she plucked his hand off her, finger by finger, before walking away.

"I'm your wife, I'm the girl of this morning, and I'm myself."

)(

Saitou, now nursing a strong drink after spending most of the afternoon in search of Kikyou, realized his mistake the moment he analyzed his actions.

From the beginning he had told himself that it didn't matter who Kikyou was. He had told himself that he would do whatever it takes to have revenge for Tokio. But somewhere along the line revenge had taken a back seat to figuring out the mystery behind Kikyou.

Before he had even realized it, Saitou had come to desire his partner in an unhealthy way.

It wasn't physical desire, there was nothing sexual about it, and it was a slowly burning obsession that blinded him to the point that he would do anything to keep the connection between them going. Logically, he should forget about Kikyou and work on the case by himself. However, he just couldn't do that. Something in his gut told him that Kikyou was the key to all of this and that through her he would find Naraku.

Yet, rationally, Naraku cut "wolf " in to the last victim's thigh. His nickname. He knew who Saitou was and would find him regardless of whether or not Kikyou was with him. The ruins of the inn him and Kikyou had stayed in and the bodies left behind was testimony enough to this fact. Saitou would have felt sorry for the victims left in Naraku's wake, for getting innocent people involved, if he still had a soul that cared.

Even more logical was that there was no where else to go from here and Saitou knew that he was slowly digging his own grave. Kikyou had shown him today with one hand that she was stronger than him. By saving his life and experiencing that nightmare in the forest ages ago he knew that Kikyou and Naraku existed on a plain of existence that he could never reach. Only an idiot would continue.

Unfortunately, Saitou was just that idiot. So it was with resignation and a newfound sense of purpose that Saitou finished his drink and headed back toward Kenshin and Karou's place. He had already looked there, but maybe Kikyou would return. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be the one to find her.

…And he was right. In a way. Standing before him was a girl that, just barely, looked like Kikyou. She looked to be about in her late teens, same age as the murder victim this morning, at a glance and with a much different hair style or attire she might pass as Kikyou but the young woman before him was not Kikyou. It was her eyes, they were anxious and annoyed as if she was waiting for a late lover and wondering whether or not to leave. Her posture and body language wasn't stiff or formal, and her hair wasn't nearly as neat and tidy as Kikyou's. Yet she had a resemblance to Kikyou in the same way that all the victims so far had, just to a lesser degree or Tokio or the poor priestess whose body had been found this morning.

Saitou, suspicious of the strange girl, attempted to walk past her when the girl's eyes widened and she stepped in front of his path. Holding a notched bow and arrow before her she threatened Saitou.

"You're one of Naraku's henchmen aren't you?" The girl's voice wavered, but it was with determination. Not amused to be associated with Naraku, Saitou drew his sword faster than the girl could let her arrow fly. The tip of her arrow embedded itself in the ground and Saitou walked away as if nothing had ever happened.

"Wait!"

Saitou turned around just in time to watch the girl notch another arrow and point it at his chest.

"Wait? So you can shoot me again? Are you stupid?" Saitou growled out. "I don't have time to play with little kids so pack off and go home."

"What did you say! Hey pal; I'm not a little kid!"

Saitou sighed. She definitely wasn't Kikyou. "Just go home. I don't know where you learned the name Naraku from, but I would get home before dark if I was you."

"Don't underestimate me! Now who are you?"

Her words oddly echoed Saitou's. And Saitou's answer mirrored Kikyou's. "Myself."

)(

Balanced on top of a roof, her knees to her chest, Kikyou stared at the town below her. Everything was so lively; you wouldn't think that someone had just been murdered. A girl her age when she had died. Above her, the only thing higher than herself, an ancient oak lifted its branches to the sky.

"I knew you would find me. As soon as my back begun to hurt again I knew it," Kikyou said, addressing the tree behind her, or more accurately what was in the tree above her.

"Heh, well I could smell you a mile away, Kikyou."

Jumping down from his perch, a white haired young man dressed in red landed besides Kikyou. On his head was a pair of white dog ears.

"Inuyasha," Kikyou sighed, taking in her presence. It had been so long since they had met each other again. "If you exist then I exist too, and so does Naraku. I guess some things will never change. Where is Kagome?"

"She left to find you?"

"Well," Kikyou said, putting all her disdain in that one word.

"Kikyou…"

"You've made it clear who you choose the last time and so did I. I don't hate you, or her. It is because of Kagome that I'm still **alive**." Kikyou emphasized the word alive, giving it hidden connotations all her own.

"…We've come to destroy Naraku."

Kikyou stood up, staring in to Inuyasha's eyes for the first time in a long time. "Go back to your own time! **Kagome's **time. I don't know how you two came back from the Modern world after we defeated Naraku the first time, and I don't care. Go back." (see author's notes)

"Why? So you can take it on all by yourself! Kikyou," Inuyasha said as he echoed Saitou by placing his hands on Kikyou's upper arms. He held her at a distance, as if she was fragile. "I was so glad when I found out that you didn't die."

Kikyou laughed in Inuyasha's face. "No, you weren't. And your presence here confirms something I have long suspected, my resurrection threw the natural order out of balance. My soul had been fragmented and now it's not the jewel that allowed you and Kagome to travel through time but my soul."

"You and Kagome's soul," Inuyasha corrected. "Yes, that's part of it, but…"

Kikyou pushed Inuyasha away as an unusual aura reached her senses. Inuyasha, a second behind her, reacted to by drawing his sword Tetsusaiga.

It felt like, to the both of them, a warzone had been planted in the middle of Tokyo.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I hope I caught all of these notes I wrote during the chapter, here goes:

The first note is in part 16 and is for the doctor who briefly makes an appearance. Now look, I don't know much about how crimes were solved in Japan during this era except for what I've seen in anime and manga and I would love to be one of those awesome fan fiction writers who research everything and make sure their writing is perfect, but I'm not. I'm not researching anything because by doing that my muse would probably desert me and I would be more boggled down with what I'm researching than writing. Plus, I have a life. I'm in my last years of attaining a college degree and I'm not going to sacrifice myself for perfect fan fiction. Okay? So I don't know if they had doctors to examine corpses before they were carried to the undertaker, I'm going to go on a limb and say they did because it makes sense. Only a doctor, or someone else with a keen eye, would have been able to properly say if how and when a person died. Plus it's helpful for the investigation

Second note is in part 17 and deals with the ending of Inuyasha. I have tried to get through the anime, but my dislike of it has made me go through it slowly. Blame the millions of immature Inuyasha fans that ruined the series for me forever. Or blame internet communities. Now whenever I look at the series I can't help but remember all the character bashing (mostly for Kikyou), petty ooc fan fiction (again mostly for Kikyou, and most of them painted her as a slut), and stupid shit that I surfed through while I tried to find a good community of fan fiction writers before this one. And even then this place still seems to have a bunch of these people. Thankfully most of the time I can ignore them and the anime community is starting to change and my love of Inuyasha keeps me coming back. I don't know how a group of people can ruin an anime but they can. I call it "anime poisoning" and I know I'm not the only one who has suffered it. But this isn't the main reason why I can't quickly go through the show. It's long. And the manga is even more long than the anime! I can't afford all those volumes of manga from viz and now that everyone is running scared from law suits I can't find a decent site to read it online. And no, I am not downloading it. First, it doesn't support the industry. Second, it would drain my hard drive faster than a speeding bullet. So for now my sources are Wikipedia and whatever I pick up on fan sites.

I did read on Wikipedia that Kagome and Inuyasha (spoiler alert!) stay in the Feudal Era together in the end. But this is my fan fiction, and if I allowed them to stay in the past instead of the present then Kagome would be dead and I wouldn't have so many characters to use since the only immortal characters in Inuyasha is Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Shippo, Jaken, and Naraku and Kikyou who are dead at the end of the series. Not to mention characters like Kouga and Naraku's henchmen. So the fact that Naraku and Kikyou are even in this fan fiction is a miracle so just work with me here.

Thanks for reading this super long author's note. I feel I went on a rant, but I must remind people again about "anime poisoning." It's really hard to even watch an anime or respect an anime community when you wonder if it's even worth watching an anime that is so trashed talked about or so many people seem to enjoy watching just to pick on one character. It's not just about me and others being able to enjoy an anime, it's about respect. If you don't like a character, don't write about it. Thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes**: I don't know how much time I'll have to devote to fan fiction once I graduate, but I might as well try right? I'll try not to rush the chapter this time, I did it last time and reading it again today I was surprised by so many spelling and grammar errors. _ I need to rewrite some chapters anyway, so I guess I'll put this on the list as well.

Also, in this chapter I replaced "-sama" with "Lady" or "Lord." I don't remember what I used in previous chapters, and I don't feel like breaking open a dictionary right now anyway. In the future English titles will be used.

I'm also changing the emphasized words from bold to italics. It looks better and doesn't stand out as much.

* * *

Darkness: Chapter 11: Part 18: A Memory of Lust

He disgusted her, but she couldn't look away. He was always there, tempting her with harsh words and rude gestures, even though he couldn't move. Even his breath disgusted her, as if breathing in the same air would taint her lungs.

Onigumo disgusted her.

Kikyou tried to keep a straight face as she unwound the bandages around Onigumo's wounds, trying not to look into the bandit's leering eyes.

"Your sense of duty is commendable, priestess," Onigumo said, Kikyou's title escaping his mouth in a long hiss that may or may not have been deliberate considering his condtion.

Kikyou didn't reply, she didn't even seem to hear what he had said. Only her fingers hesitation over another spoll of bandages indicated that she had been listening.

This was their daily game; he would try and fail to get a rise out of her.

Kikyou focused on bandaging Onigumo's arm, trying to only touch him as little as possible. Even holding his arm made her feel dirty.

In front of Kaede she acted like his presence didn't bother her, that it wasn't only her duty to help others. Like her purpose in life was to help the less fortunate. And maybe it was her purpose in the beginning, but now? Now Kikyou wasn't so sure.

Why didn't she simply turn the job over to the women in the village? They could take care of him and if she asked the villagers not to probe into his background they would have listened to her. No, it wasn't simply that she didn't want to risk exposure or that Onigumo couldn't move in his condition either. She could have gotten men from the village to help her.

Even when it was obvious Onigumo was infactuated with her, Kikyou denied that there was anything wrong with this and put her doubts away by simply saying it wasn't unusual for patients to fall in love with their nurses.

Now, however, now Kikyou wishes that she hadn't made so many excuses.

But it's too late; the moment she is thinking of has already passed. Her reasons, her self from that time, are not clear. She can no longer understand her motivations or reasons for taking care of Onigumo. The past, and the present, has muddled her feelings and try as she might Kikyou can never again be that girl. The priestess and the warrior are two separate entities, and the gulf of time between them would make them strangers even if they did meet again.

"Who are you?" Kikyou asks, Onigumo as well as herself in the present—in the past. But Onigumo just laughed that raspy hiss of his that fouled the air with the smell of burnt meat and rotting flesh. He was dying—why didn't she end it? Wasn't that her duty too?

It was because he was human. Except even then he wasn't human. Was he ever human?

"Don't try to change the subject," Onigumo said as his eyes followed ever movement of Kikyou's fingers. "Is this your duty too, priestess, to comfort the dying?"

"I am trying to heal you."

Onigumo laughed again, except his laughter this time came out as more of a wheeze than a chuckle. Kikyou almost cursed as his laughter caused his body to rock slightly, messing up her bandage work. She would never admit to herself that he had unnearved her enough to make a mistake.

"Then heal me priestess, put your fingers where I _really_ need them."

"A man in your position should be focused on resting. As soon as my work is finished I'll—"

Kikyou didn't finish her sentence as, in a movement that cost all of Onigumo's strength, his wrist flipped over in her hand and his fingers dug into her arm.

Kikyou stifled a scream, she hadn't expected him to move and in fact he wasn't supposed to. Yet, Kikyou thought as she sat frozen and stared at his fingers wrapped around her wrist, everything pointed to the impossible and the evidence was before her eyes. Onigumo's bony fingers were strong, even in their burned and rotting state. She watched as pieces of his dead and burned skin peeled off and fell to the ground like snow flakes.

Kikyou thought she would be sick, and she almost averted her eyes away from the monstrosity before her.

But that would have shown weakness. This moment, this moment was the defining moment between them. Whether Kikyou, either her past self or her present self, realized it or not Onigumo did and Naraku remembered.

"A man in my position takes what comfort he can, even if it is just your hand priestess," Onigumo hissed, his eyes giving a lewd connotation to his words.

"Let go," Kikyou said, her voice coming out in a low whisper almost like an exhale of breath.

"Why, priestess? Surely there's nothing wrong with a dying man holding the hand of a beautiful girl. But you're a woman now, aren't you?"

"Let go," Kikyou repeated, her voice firmer than before but her eyes still on Onigumo's hand on her wrist.

"Yesss…you're a woman now. I can smell him on you, priestess. On your arms, on your lovely hands, on your breasts…How tight did he hold you, hmm? _Very_ tight I imagine…"

"Let go," Kikyou tried to pull her wrist out of his grasp, but it was like trying to pull something out of the hands of a dead man after rigor mortis has set in. Onigumo wouldn't budge.

"He must have held you very, very tight. I can even smell him between your legs…" Onigumo leered, his eyes leaving her face to travel down her body and then back up to her eyes again. He was laughing at her again, laughing with his eyes. His eyes were filled with an intense lust that frightened and angered Kikyou at the same time.

"I said let go of me now!" Kikyou shouted, jerking her wrist from his hand so hard that she fell back on her back when he finally let go. Onigumo's hand released her with a brittle cracking sound as if Kikyou has broke something, and in fact she did. Later Kikyou would inspect him again and find that she had broken his wrist and two of his fingers in her struggle. His bones were so brittle and weak that the merest pressure could have broken them. She hadn't been trapped by him; it was Onigumo's words that had held her in place until his insults had pushed Kikyou over the edge.

It wasn't his insults that hurt her and caused Kikyou to lash out, it was the way he looked at her. Not the lust, as frightening as his was she was used to men lusting after her or the jewel because she represented what they could never have. No, it was how his eyes seemed to bore into her soul and how he seemed to know everything. Even that she had given her virginity to Inuyasha.

Funny, how looking at Inuyasha this memory was all she could think about instead of the night she had given her heart and her body to the man she loved. Had loved.

But she couldn't focus on him right now, and his words and even the memory of Onigumo's assault passed through and faded from her mind in seconds as Kikyou tried to analyze the aura coming from Karou's dojo.

It was like nothing she had ever felt before, yet mixed in it were two auras' she knew: Saitou's and Kagome's.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha shouted as Kikyou pushed him aside and jumped off the roof. She hopped from building to building with the speed and agility of a demon, a fleet that would have been impossible in her previous body.

"Incrediable," Inuyasha muttered as he watched Kikyou's flight. "Kikyou has almost become a demon, if the souls inside her continue to evolve..."

"Master Inuyasha!" Myoga exclaimed as he jumped from Inuyasha's head on to his shoulder. It appeared that Myoga, now sensing that Kikyou and all the danger she represented was gone, decided to make his appearance. "We don't have time to ponder about Lady Kikyou, Lady Kagome is in danger!"

"That's right, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted before leaping after Kikyou.

* * *

Part 19: Possession

Saitou turned his back on the girl. The last thing he needed right now was to duel with a child. The only things on his mind now were finding Kikyou and finding Naraku's next victim, if he was even still in the city.

But all of Saitou's plans changed as Kagome's arrow grazed his check and embedded itself in the ground several feet away.

"Turn around, now! I don't know what kind of demon you are, but it's obvious you came from Naraku," Kagome growled, trying to stand her ground bravely without Inuyasha. It was obvious she couldn't take him alone, but Kagome hoped by the time she needed Inuyasha's help he would already be here.

If she let this _demon_ go now she would never find Naraku.

Unfortunately, Saitiou couldn't read her mind and he wasn't the kind of man to let a challenge go unanswered.

"Alright, you want to play?" Saitou turned around, unsheathing his sword simultaneously.

Before either could strike the other two things happened.

Saitou and Kagome were hit with a unexplainable aura of madness and blood-lust. And then Kagome, on reflex, let her arrow go without aiming.

Saitou had a split second to stop, dodge, and raise his sword before another arrow whizzed pass his face and, from the sound of impact, hit solid flesh behind him. This felt werid to Saitou because he thought no one was behind him.

Saitou instantly turned around; his blade raised up to ward off a blow that threatened to drill him into the ground. Saitou ground his teeth, focusing everything he had into defense instead of who was attacking him. Suddenly the pressure on his blade diminished and Saitou looked up; way up, at what was attacking him.

It was a hand.

To be more specific it was a hand missing a thumb, a demonic hand that was black and twisted with evil energy with claws that looked sharp enough to cleave Saitou in two. It was also one of the hands that had attacked him and Kikyou two days ago.

And, more importantly, it was coming directly from the ground. There wasn't even a hole around the arm that the hand was attached to, as if the arm was as natural as a tree.

Saitou's mind threatened to break, in fact any human's mind would have broken in that situation and the fact that Saitou managed to hang on to his sanity was extraordinary. Human minds were engineered to reject anything different from themselves, whether they were supernatural or not. Especially when a mind had been trained not to believe in something like demons, so the fact that Saitou wasn't curled into a ball crying and waiting for death was extraordinary.

Kagome, who was used to demons and due to her background was immune to the sight of supernatural creatures, also had trouble processing what was in front of her. Which was dangerous, as the thing before them opened it's palm to reveal one horrible red eye before the other half of its palm split open to reveal a vertical mouth with a gleaming row of sharp teeth.

What Kikyou and Saitou had seen as "eyes" was actually part of the demon's hands. Saitou's hand actually trembled before tightening its grip on his sword.

"Kukuku…I knew I smelt something delicious!" The demonic hand addressed Kagome, staring at her with malevolent glee. For the moment it didn't even seem to notice Saitou. In fact, Saitou hadn't been attacked. Instead he had been used as something for the demon to hold on to while it pulled its form the earth.

Kagome took a step back, her knees shaking but her grip on her bow remained. She tried to notice another arrow but couldn't get it in place before it fell to the ground. The arrow she had shot perviously was embedded in the creature's palm, and as she watched the demon's tongue poked out of its mouth to twine around the shaft before pulling it out of its flesh to chew on.

"Inu..yash…" Kagome muttered as she took another step back.

Whoever this "Inuyasha" was he wasn't coming soon. Saitou's mind wanted him to run, but he couldn't just leave this girl here.

"Dammit," Saitou cursed. "Some of Kenshin's soft side must be rubbing off on me."

The demon, with impossible speed, reached over Saitou to grab Kagome. Before one of its fingers could even touch her Saitou pushed Kagome out of the way and raised his sword to fend off the demon.

Kagome landed in a heap away from the demonic hand and Saitou. She watched the two of them struggle, shocked that Saitou had defended her. Hadn't she just tried to kill him and wasn't he a demon too?

"What are you doing!" Saitou yelled. "Run!"

"But…"

"Go! Damn…what is it with women who look like Tokio, huh? They all want to argue," Saitou said as he put all his energy into pushing the hand back. His bravado was helping him stay on his feet from the enormous pressure that the demon's aura and body placed on him and his sword.

Just as it seemed that he was succeeding, the hand inexplicably let go. Teetering off balance because of the absence of pressure, Saitou fell backwards. This was exactly what the thing wanted as a second hand shot out from the ground behind Saitou.

"No! Behind you!" Kagome shouted, her hands raised to her face in horror as the fingers of the second hand pointed themselves at Saitou's unprotected back.

Then something extremely unexpected happened.

The next seconds seemed an eternity to Saitou as he waited for death, for his body to be impaled. Strangly, at the girl's cry he didn't feel fear or concern. Saitou felt more alert than he had ever been in his life. Time seemed to slow down as he looked over his shoulder at the deadly claws below him.

No stranger to danger or brushes with death, Saitou was used to thinking on his feet. But he had never experienced this insane amount of clarity as he could suddenly see every detail of what was going on around him and his senses seemed to go into overdrive. He could actually smell Kagome's fear and the remnants of his own. He could hear the gravel under his feet shift under his weight and the traffic on the next street and feel—he could feel everything. Even his sense of smell, taste, and touch were heightened. And suddenly he understood everything and saw what was going to happen before he did it.

First, he was going to twist his body as he fell to fall face first. Second, he was going to shift his sword to impale the second hand, not to stab through the fingers but to use the hand and his sword as a spring board for launching himself back. Finally, he was going to swing over his head and impale the eye on the first hand.

It happened exactly as Saitou saw it happen in his mind.

Kagome could only stare in disbelief as the man she thought would die before her eyes landed gracefully in front of her, shielding her body with his. He followed up his first attack with a swipe of his sword that took out the first and middle finger of the second hand, even though the demonic hand's flesh appeared to be as thick as steal.

"Arrgh! You have wounded us!" The creature screamed. "How is this possible? A mere mortal! You…you're not human!"

"Oh…" Saitou gasped from raw power instead of excursion. He didn't know when the change had taken place, but he felt powerful. Unbelievably powerful. Something crawled across his back, and what felt like spider's legs dug into his back. Saitou was too happy to care. This felt so good, so much better than anything he ever experienced in his life. Every thought other than killing what was in front of him vanished. Even protecting Kagome was only a fragment of his former self.

"You're notnotnot mortal!"

"Why don't you try to breath between words? You're more intimidating without a speech impediment," Saitou mocked.

Meanwhile, Kagome stood up and backed away from Saitou and the demonic hands. To her, it seemed like she had jumped from the frying pan and into the fire.

It was impossible for someone who was supposedly human to be on par with a demon of the demonic hands level, an entity Kagome had never faced before. But from the beginning she had sensed something demonic about Saitou, something that smelled like Naraku, and what ever was in him seemed to have awakened when he had almost been killed earlier. Almost as if a switch within Saitou had been clicked at the exact moment when he was going to die.

While Kagome was wondering which one was the true monster, Saitou did something so irresponsible and out of character that Kagome gasped in shock: He threw away his sword.

To be more precise he _threw_ his sword. The blade was practically an extension of his self ever since Saitou had acquired it. Ever since Saitou had learned how to use a sword he had never failed to have one at his side or treat it with the utmost respect, yet he threw it at the demonic hands like a lance. Saitou's sword skewered the eye of the second hand. Instantly the demon screeched in pain and produced a sound loud enough to make Kagome clap her hands over her ears in pain.

Saitou, however, ignored the demon's screech and instead leap upon protruding end of sword, stomping upon the hilt so that the blade sank further into the creature's flesh as well as splitting it apart.

"I want to make you bleed," Saitou whispered. "And suffer, suffer as much as me and die!"

Saitou leaned back and stepped off of the edge of the sword before reaching forward and dragging it along with him. The wrist twisted at an unnatural angle and Saitou reached into the hole he had made in the hand's flesh.

With his bare hands Saitou cut the creature in half. Only one hand remained.

Only when Saitou turned to glance at Kagome did Kagome finally understand.

"Naraku…?" Kagome could barely form the words as she stared into Saitou's eyes.

His normal gold eyes were replaced with ruby eyes that seemed no more human than an actual wolf's.

* * *

Part 20: Transformation

It wasn't possible, it was impossible. Naraku couldn't make human copies of himself! All of his copies were demons, yet hadn't Saitou been human until now? Kagome and Inuyasha had followed Kikyou and Saitou since the park and she hadn't felt anything demonic about him until she came in contact with Saitou while trying to find Kikyou.

If Saitou realized what was going on with his body, he didn't show it as he stalked toward Kagome. He only stopped once to pick up his sword.

"Stay…Stay away!" Kagome cried as she aimed her bow at Saitou. She frantically tried to notch an arrow in it before Saitou reached her, but with impossible speed, and Kagome's carelessness due to fear, Saitou reached her side in an instant and crushed the head of her arrow with his bare hand.

Kagome's eyes widened as Saitou's blood spurted from his palm and his torn flesh without the merest hint of pain on Saitou's face. He didn't even seem to notice his mangled hand as his eyes left Kagome's face to stare over her shoulder. Before Kagome could say anything Saitou swung her over his shoulder to the ground with his injured hand before grabbing the finger on the remaining demonic hand and severing it from the demon's palm using only his strength.

A second screech and Kagome stopped watching as she buried her face in her arms and lay on the ground, trying to stay out of the fight as well as shield her sensitive ears from the onslaught of sound. So intent on protecting herself, Kagome almost didn't notice when Kikyou arrived.

Kikyou landed in front of Kagome, trying to figure out what was happening. Kagome looked fine, she wasn't injured at all. But where was Saitou. His presence had disappeared. She couldn't find his body, which meant he could be hiding his presence and might be still alive or most likely… Kikyou didn't even want to think about it. She didn't want to lose anyone else in her life. Especially not him, not the only human she had fought alongside and trusted since she had become undead.

"Saitou, where is Saitou!" Kikyou asked Kagome as she grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. Inuyasha was right on her heels, but Kikyou didn't care if the dog demon became enraged over Kikyou's treatment of his lover. Saitou was too important to lose.

"Over…there…" Kagome managed say. Kagome was exhausted, physically and emotionally. It had taken all of her power to remain conscious.

Kikyou looked over in the direction Kagome pointed to, raising a shield to block off the blunt of the demonic hand's sonic waves.

She didn't see Saitou. At least she didn't see the Saitou she wanted to see.

Like Kikyou when she had gone into a berserker like rage to protect Saitou from the spider demon that had attacked him, Saitou seemed to have become an entirely different person. But unlike Kikyou, he couldn't control his power at all and instead it was controlling him. He had abandoned his sword for one of the demonic hand's fingers and, even though he could kill the demon easily, he was toying with it and slicing off each digit at the knuckle instead of ending the demon's life.

The only way Kikyou could tell that the entity before her was Saitou was by his uniform. Even his voice was different, deeper, rasper as if he had yelled himself hoarse in pleasure over the pain he was inflicting. He probably had. Nothing of the man she had known remained.

"Is this the best Naraku can send?" Saitou asked as he practically danced out of the way of the remaining finger of the hand. Only the pinkie was left. "I thought there were four of you? Bring them out to play!"

"Notnotnotnot mortal!"

"Is that all you can say?" Saitou practically screamed with frustration as he sliced off the demon's last defense. "Why don't you show me the same terror as before? And you call yourself a demon!"

In despair, the creature tried to attack Saitou with its palm. Its mouth opened wide to devour Saitou and he let it.

"Saitou!" Kikyou cried out as he disappeared inside the creature. She would have followed after him, slicing the demon apart until she saved Saitou if Inuyasha hadn't arrived and held her back.

"Let me go," Kikyou said as Inuyasha had to restrain her arms to keep her from fighting back. "He's…Saitiou!"

As if in answer to her cry, the demonic hand split open. With a dying shriek blood and bone gave way to a wet, but very much alive, Saitou.

"Impossible…" Inuyasha said absentmindedly. "He was dead, he had to have been! No human could survive that!"

"Saitou… You're…" Kikyou started to say, but it was then she heard an inhuman laugh. A laugh Kikyou thought she would never hear again in her life. Onigumo's laugh.

"Is this all?" Saitou hissed in between rasps of glee. "Is this all that can challenge me?"

His last words came out as a pled for anything stronger than himself to appear. Saitou covered his eyes with one hand, and threw back his head to howl at the insanity of it all.

As he sank to his knees, overcome with emotion, Saitou asked once more for anything to appear. "Ahh…Something, anything…I still feel so empty… So empty!"

"Saitou…" Kikyou broke Inuyasha's hold on her and pushed herself away from him. Against her better judgement, as Saitou's powerful and distinctly demonic aura washed over her, she walked toward Saitou and picked up his abandoned sword.

Saitou didn't even glance at her, didn't even notice her as Kikyou raised his sword over his head and aimed for his neck.

"I'm so sorry…Saitou…I," Kikyou whispered to Saitou, trying to calm herself more than him. This had to be done. She had to kill him. Now by he was weak, overcome by the feeling of power that his battle, his slaughter, had induced.

"_I can't make the same mistake,"_ Kikyou thought as she stared down at Saitou. "If I had killed Onigumo at that time, if I had killed him before he turned into Naraku…then…then… Oh wolf, how did it come to this?"

Inuyasha was shouting something, trying to warn Kikyou, but she didn't hear it until it was too late. In the end Kikyou made one more fatal mistake.

As she swung the blade down to decapitate Saitou he whispered a name, one name that stayed her hand…

"Tokio."

And then Saitou reached up and plunged his hand into Kikyou's chest. His hand sank up to the wrist in her flesh, the clay that held the fragments of her soul together. His fingers latched on to what would have been a heart in a normal human, but were a ball of soul energy and remains in Kikyou's.

"Sait…ou...why?" Kikyou gasped as Saitou twisted his hand cruelly in her chest, crushing the souls that fueled her. Kikyou tried to hold on to the sword, to keep standing, but she couldn't as pain radiated from her heart in waves and paralyzed her.

Saitou didn't answer her; instead his other hand cradled Kikyou's cheek as he finally stared up into her eyes.

They were gold, not red. Kikyou barely had time to register this fact when Saitou pulled his hand out of her chest, tearing out her heart.

Inuyasha screamed, and the world erupted into chaos.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Stayed up impossibly late to finish this chapter. I've actually had this chapter finished now for a couple of months but homework and my classes got in the way of posting it. Big plot twist, isn't it? Everything, or almost everything, will be cleared up in the next chapter.

Also, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Each year I always say I will release a chapter of something for Christmas and I never do. This year I finally did. I'm sorry I can't release a new chapter for all my unfinished chapters, so if you are still waiting for something I am really sorry. Feel free to berate me in your reviews. Just kidding. Seriously, constructive criticism is okay and I don't mind if you want to know what is going on with the other series as long as you are respectful. Thankfully I haven't had a problem with rude reviewers for a while. I had to block one asshole, and delete numerous reviews in the past that seemed rude, but that is something that is water under the bridge. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year too. :)


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